How Long Can An Airplane Sit?

Bill, I think you need to stopy worrying about the details so much.

Look, if you want your own airplane and can afford it, go buy one.

Here is the rule of thumb to follow: Fly it as often as you can.

If you can fly it every day (you lucky bastid...), great. If you can fly it
every week, you're doing better than most of us. If you can generally fly
once every 10 days to two weeks, you're still doing fine. But if three or
four weeks regularly go by without you having a chance to fly, you need to
look at making some changes to your life so you can get out to the airport
more often.

Once you own the plane, it will break your heart if a month goes by without
you flying it. Trust me, if that happens, you'll know what to do. It's not
really any more complicated than that.

Come on in, the water's fine....

David Herman
N6170T 1965 Cessna 150E
Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, WA
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Visit the Pacific Northwest Flying Forum:
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"Bill Denton" wrote in message
...
Thanks to all who've posted so far. Unfortunately it appears I might not
have been very clear in what I was looking for. Please allow me to
clarify...

Our pilot wants to own his own airplane, and he doesn't want others to fly
it. Therefore he doesn't want to put it on leaseback or some other
situation
that would increase the "flight frequency". The plane would only be flown
when he could fly it himself. Because his flying time is limited, whenever
he does have time to fly he would like to go to the airport, do a thorough
preflight, get in and go, while not sacrificing safety.

As several pointed out, corrosion begins as soon as you shut the engine
down. Let's assume our pilot has plenty of money and really enjoys flying,
so he is willing to accept even a 20% reduction in TBO in order to own his
own plane.

I noticed that engines were about the only things mentioned. We al so want
to consider all of the airplane, including tires, landing gear, lights,
instruments, avionics, and whatever else.

So let's look at it this way: how long could the airplane sit without
incurring extremely excessive wear or situations that would make the
airplane even slightly unsafe to fly?





"Bill Denton" wrote in message
...
A pilot owns an airplane.

He isn't able to fly the plane very often, but when he does it's usually
two
hours out for a $100 hamburger, then two hours back.

The airplane is always hangered; all inspections and maintenance are done
by
the book.

How long could the airplane sit between flights before it begins to
deteriorate?

"Dan Thomas" wrote in message
om...

The trace of ozone in the air will attack the rubber and make
it brittle, and it cracks and the moisture can get into the cords and
weaken them. Covering the tires helps, and keeping them out of the sun
also reduces the reaction.

The bearing in the tach tends to dry out and seize up over time,
breaking the cable. Cockpit heat really kills the radios, and also
cooks the upholstery. Both take considerable time, but it's a shame to
see a 500-hour airplane in need of a complete refurbishing.


These things all happen to an airplane whether it flies or not, don't they?
They are not a consequence of letting the plane sit, but just consequences
of age?

"C J Campbell" wrote in message ...
"Dan Thomas" wrote in message
om...

The trace of ozone in the air will attack the rubber and make
it brittle, and it cracks and the moisture can get into the cords and
weaken them. Covering the tires helps, and keeping them out of the sun
also reduces the reaction.

The bearing in the tach tends to dry out and seize up over time,
breaking the cable. Cockpit heat really kills the radios, and also
cooks the upholstery. Both take considerable time, but it's a shame to
see a 500-hour airplane in need of a complete refurbishing.


These things all happen to an airplane whether it flies or not, don't they?
They are not a consequence of letting the plane sit, but just consequences
of age?

Yes. But too many owners/buyers look only at flight time, and get
fooled into believing that it must be a good airplane if the time is
so low. Some parts can dry out and crack or fail when they're not used
(some seals and gaskets), and engines that are flown little can have a
short life both in hours and years. I have seen tires that have rotted
on the side against the ground where they've sat for too long. Seen
damage caused by pests that had time to start a whole extended family
in the airplane; regular flight would have prevented their getting so
comfortable. Seen fuel systems with crud formed from old gasoline.

Dan