Longest wasted trip you've had to make....

[Dick Atcherley]

Seems to be quite a few pilots on here..........is it an earnings thing or a desire to spend it ASAP?

It's a "boys and their toys" phenomena, I'd guess. Also, a lot of the nautical nav stuff is very similar to the aviation stuff, so there's quite a big cross-over between the two.

 

[salar]

I think Beagle 2 wins. All the way to Mars then the solar panels don't work and ten years later it is still sitting there.

 

[Beamishken]

Seems to be quite a few pilots on here..........is it an earnings thing or a desire to spend it ASAP?

Small planes can be cheaper to run than even a modest mobo!

 

[Dick Atcherley]

Small planes can be cheaper to run than even a modest mobo!

If it's an LAA machine maintained by the owner, with a ROTAX engine, that's quite right.

However, if it's a 4 seat EASA aircraft with a C of A, the the sums are quite attention-grabbing.

Typically, your outgoings on flying 100 hrs p/a are

Parking (outside at an airfield) £2,400 p/a
Insurance £2,000 p/a
Maintenance £4,500 p/a
Fuel £9,000 p/a
Engine,prop, paint and avionics fund £2,500 p/a

So bank on £20,000 p/a or £200 per hour. If you are an LAA machine with a Lycoming up front, the maintenance reduces to about £500 p/a, so the sum is better - but still not cheap.

However, what is different is the possibility of a sudden cash-call due to legislation (suddenly you're required to fit new radios or a transponder, due to an esoteric requirement) or wing-spar corrosion or metal showing up in an oil filter. You need to be prepared to write a cheque for £30k at any moment, or use the aircraft as a garden ornament. Tooling around with smokey motors or dicky radios is not an option in certified aircraft. It's cheaper in LAA stuff, but you have to go quite small and frugal, and fly out of a farmers field, to make it significantly cheaper.

 

[Beamishken]

If it's an LAA machine maintained by the owner, with a ROTAX engine, that's quite right.

However, if it's a 4 seat EASA aircraft with a C of A, the the sums are quite attention-grabbing.

Typically, your outgoings on flying 100 hrs p/a are

Parking (outside at an airfield) £2,400 p/a
Insurance £2,000 p/a
Maintenance £4,500 p/a
Fuel £9,000 p/a
Engine,prop, paint and avionics fund £2,500 p/a

So bank on £20,000 p/a or £200 per hour. If you are an LAA machine with a Lycoming up front, the maintenance reduces to about £500 p/a, so the sum is better - but still not cheap.

However, what is different is the possibility of a sudden cash-call due to legislation (suddenly you're required to fit new radios or a transponder, due to an esoteric requirement) or wing-spar corrosion or metal showing up in an oil filter. You need to be prepared to write a cheque for £30k at any moment, or use the aircraft as a garden ornament. Tooling around with smokey motors or dicky radios is not an option in certified aircraft. It's cheaper in LAA stuff, but you have to go quite small and frugal, and fly out of a farmers field, to make it significantly cheaper.

So about the same as a 40 foot mobo then !
But initially I was talking about a single engined owner maintained plane
planes tend to syndicate very well too which is a popular way of sharing the burden & pleasure
My point was you don't need to be a millionaire to own a plane