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#1
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Ballpark budget to buy and own an airplane
Just taking a swag at what it might cost to buy and own a $40,000 plane
in the Cherokee class, here is what I came up with. Feedback from those who are wiser appreciated: Assumption: $40,000 plane bought with a 15-year 7.5% loan with 20% down. Startup costs: Down payment: $8,000 Loan fees: $250 (guessed from googling on aircraft financing) pre-buy activities: $2,000 (inspections, travel to view planes, etc) reserve for first annual/squawks: $5,000 (not really an expense but need to have available in case) Monthly fixed costs (some are annual costs divided by 12): Tiedown: $35 (verified with local FBO) Loan payments: $300 (used online loan calculator) Insurance: $90 (online quote from AOPA insurance agency, $1M/$100K, 160 hr VFR pilot) Annual: $75 (assume $900 annuals) Hourly costs: Gas: $24 (8gph @$3 per) Engine reserve: $15 (assume engine has 1000 hours left and an overhaul will be $15K) Other reserves: $10 |
#2
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I think you are being a bit optimistic on the annual costs... add $500
to be safe. I would also allocate $25/month just as a reserve for normal repair and/or replacement items. TTA Cherokee Driver wrote: Just taking a swag at what it might cost to buy and own a $40,000 plane in the Cherokee class, here is what I came up with. Feedback from those who are wiser appreciated: Assumption: $40,000 plane bought with a 15-year 7.5% loan with 20% down. Startup costs: Down payment: $8,000 Loan fees: $250 (guessed from googling on aircraft financing) pre-buy activities: $2,000 (inspections, travel to view planes, etc) reserve for first annual/squawks: $5,000 (not really an expense but need to have available in case) Monthly fixed costs (some are annual costs divided by 12): Tiedown: $35 (verified with local FBO) Loan payments: $300 (used online loan calculator) Insurance: $90 (online quote from AOPA insurance agency, $1M/$100K, 160 hr VFR pilot) Annual: $75 (assume $900 annuals) Hourly costs: Gas: $24 (8gph @$3 per) Engine reserve: $15 (assume engine has 1000 hours left and an overhaul will be $15K) Other reserves: $10 |
#3
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TTA Cherokee Driver wrote:
Just taking a swag at what it might cost to buy and own a $40,000 plane in the Cherokee class, here is what I came up with. Feedback from those who are wiser appreciated: Assumption: $40,000 plane bought with a 15-year 7.5% loan with 20% down. Startup costs: Down payment: $8,000 Loan fees: $250 (guessed from googling on aircraft financing) pre-buy activities: $2,000 (inspections, travel to view planes, etc) reserve for first annual/squawks: $5,000 (not really an expense but need to have available in case) Monthly fixed costs (some are annual costs divided by 12): Tiedown: $35 (verified with local FBO) Loan payments: $300 (used online loan calculator) Insurance: $90 (online quote from AOPA insurance agency, $1M/$100K, 160 hr VFR pilot) Annual: $75 (assume $900 annuals) Hourly costs: Gas: $24 (8gph @$3 per) Engine reserve: $15 (assume engine has 1000 hours left and an overhaul will be $15K) Other reserves: $10 I didn't check your numbers, but I think you've covered all the bases, except I don't see anything for general maintenance, spark plugs, oil changes, the odd window hinge, PTT switch, stuff that breaks, avionics that wear out or become obsolete. Maybe that's in the "other reserves". I think I'd plan for $1500 for the annual, but that's a judgement call. Planning for an expensive first annual is a good idea. Mostly I think you're in the ball park. Dave |
#4
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On Wed, 11 Aug 2004 16:16:16 -0400, TTA Cherokee Driver
wrote: Just taking a swag at what it might cost to buy and own a $40,000 plane in the Cherokee class, here is what I came up with. Feedback from those who are wiser appreciated: Assumption: $40,000 plane bought with a 15-year 7.5% loan with 20% down. Startup costs: Down payment: $8,000 Loan fees: $250 (guessed from googling on aircraft financing) pre-buy activities: $2,000 (inspections, travel to view planes, etc) reserve for first annual/squawks: $5,000 (not really an expense but need to have available in case) Monthly fixed costs (some are annual costs divided by 12): Tiedown: $35 (verified with local FBO) Loan payments: $300 (used online loan calculator) Insurance: $90 (online quote from AOPA insurance agency, $1M/$100K, 160 hr VFR pilot) Annual: $75 (assume $900 annuals) Hourly costs: Gas: $24 (8gph @$3 per) Engine reserve: $15 (assume engine has 1000 hours left and an overhaul will be $15K) Other reserves: $10 I don't know where you live, but I'd figure on 2500 / yr for the annual. This will also let you buy "stuff" through the course of the year should it break, ie, strobe, fuel sender, etc... I do most of my own maintenance, pay an IA $400, and generally need about 1000+ per year in parts. I'd also run your gas average at 10 gph assuming a warrior 12 gph for an Archer. With that figure it'll include oil consumption and you won't get caught short. Best advice I can think of is plan as much as you can and after you buy it don't stress too much when the plan has to change. I also don't save for an engine, but that's just my philosophy. 1000 hrs @ 100 hrs/yr = 10 years. Avg pilot flies about 50 in his own craft so you're looking at 20 years to spend that money (if you keep the plane that long). HTH. z |
#5
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TTA Cherokee Driver wrote: Monthly fixed costs (some are annual costs divided by 12): Add about $500 per year for maintenance. In good years, this will be about $150 for oil changes (assuming you use 15W-50 and do them yourself). The bad years will more than make up for the good ones. George Patterson If you want to know God's opinion of money, just look at the people he gives it to. |
#6
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Looks good to me. The numbers on my partnership 172 are higher but
we're near Boston where the prices for everything are much higher. $2000/annual would be more conservative. There are just so many gotchas out there. But the $5000 first annual reserve is very wise. Between that and $2000 for pre-buys I think you're leaving yourself good margin for error. Slightly off-topic, but make sure you're buying the right airplane for at least a couple of years. 40k should be able to get you a solid VFR plane. If you go IFR you'll want GPS and an auto-pilot and you probably won't find PA-28s or 172s with those with low time, no damage history, etc. You should be able to find basic IFR though. Those items will add some to the operating costs but the biggest hit will be to the purchase price, which you're amortizing over 20 years, plus the fact that it's probably half the cost of putting them in new. AND they will help you out big-time when you want to sell it, especially a GPS. -cwk. TTA Cherokee Driver wrote in message ... Just taking a swag at what it might cost to buy and own a $40,000 plane in the Cherokee class, here is what I came up with. Feedback from those who are wiser appreciated: Assumption: $40,000 plane bought with a 15-year 7.5% loan with 20% down. Startup costs: Down payment: $8,000 Loan fees: $250 (guessed from googling on aircraft financing) pre-buy activities: $2,000 (inspections, travel to view planes, etc) reserve for first annual/squawks: $5,000 (not really an expense but need to have available in case) Monthly fixed costs (some are annual costs divided by 12): Tiedown: $35 (verified with local FBO) Loan payments: $300 (used online loan calculator) Insurance: $90 (online quote from AOPA insurance agency, $1M/$100K, 160 hr VFR pilot) Annual: $75 (assume $900 annuals) Hourly costs: Gas: $24 (8gph @$3 per) Engine reserve: $15 (assume engine has 1000 hours left and an overhaul will be $15K) Other reserves: $10 |
#7
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It seems that annuals are very expensive in the US... perhaps we're
lucky here at CYYG... we've got a retired AME with more certications you can shake a stick at (everything from 150s to DC3s to Citations)... he's retired and helps out another AMO to keep busy. Might be worth a flight up here to get your annual done and vacation at the same time. www.peiplay.com is the local tourism web site. -dr |
#9
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Dico Reyers wrote: It seems that annuals are very expensive in the US... Actually, not so much. People usually defer maintenance until annual inspection time, and this is what runs the cost up. The inspection on my aircraft was less than $500, but the total bill was over $900. Part of that was some fabric work that's been put off for several years (Paul, that's the silver patch on the tail you may have noticed). George Patterson If you want to know God's opinion of money, just look at the people he gives it to. |
#10
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Keep in mind that I live on the east coast so my numbers tend to be
higher. For reference, I have a PA28-140 which I paid around $30K for. Acquisition cost: your numbers look good here. Someone probably already told you that this is the "cheap" part. Your first annual reserve looks fine depending on the squawks. A cylinder job at first annual (it happens) can run around $1000/cylinder. Fixed costs: these look good as well except for the annual. My first annual was in the neighborhood of $3K with a lot of little fixes. Hourly: Assume about 10gph as others have suggested to be on the safe side. Call your engine reserve a maintenance reserve as that's more likely what you'll use it for. As others have said, you're probably more likely to sell the plane before overhaul. Learn to change your own oil, if you fly a lot this adds up. Even if you don't fly a lot, it's an easy job and a good way to get comfortable with maintenance. At least learn to clean, gap, and rotate your plugs. That's about the easiest do-it-yourself maintenance there is. Miscellanious: avionics are an oft-desired and expensive upgrade. Decide now (and be realistic) if you want to make your bird IFR legal. I spent almost $10K on mine for an IFR GPS and a few other minor things. And now the bad news: avionics probably only add $0.30 on the dollar to overall value. Interior and paint upgrades are closer to even. best of luck, mark TTA Cherokee Driver wrote in message ... Just taking a swag at what it might cost to buy and own a $40,000 plane in the Cherokee class, here is what I came up with. Feedback from those who are wiser appreciated: Assumption: $40,000 plane bought with a 15-year 7.5% loan with 20% down. Startup costs: Down payment: $8,000 Loan fees: $250 (guessed from googling on aircraft financing) pre-buy activities: $2,000 (inspections, travel to view planes, etc) reserve for first annual/squawks: $5,000 (not really an expense but need to have available in case) Monthly fixed costs (some are annual costs divided by 12): Tiedown: $35 (verified with local FBO) Loan payments: $300 (used online loan calculator) Insurance: $90 (online quote from AOPA insurance agency, $1M/$100K, 160 hr VFR pilot) Annual: $75 (assume $900 annuals) Hourly costs: Gas: $24 (8gph @$3 per) Engine reserve: $15 (assume engine has 1000 hours left and an overhaul will be $15K) Other reserves: $10 |
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