Comment by dcreemer | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dcreemer | Hacker News Reader

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"...once you own a plane your running costs are low..."

not really. I owned a light-sport plane for ~ two years. It was a great airplane, and cost about $20/hour for fuel to operate (and cruised at about 110 mph).

However, the tie-down was about $1500/year; insurance was about $2k/year; and maintenance was about $2k/year. These are the fixed costs -- $4500/year (call it $5K since I'm forgetting stuff I'm sure). Flying 100 hours/year == 100x $20 = $2000 + $5k fixed / 100 hours == $70/hr "real operating costs).

I can rent a much more capable plane (Piper Archer) for $120 per hour, and not have to worry about any ownership issues.

In addition, you can't just run up to Tahoe (at least you can't plan on it). I'm also in the SF area, and fly out of Palo Alto Airport (great place, btw). I've been to Truckee / Tahoe many times in small planes & the trip is great. But don't book a hotel, tell the spouse and make other arrangements assuming you're going to fly up -- what if the weather is bad? What if the weather is marginal? Do you go then? The moment you get into thinking along those lines, you're dead (usually literally).

Owning a plane is about having something that is _yours_ -- a plane where I know the condition and use of every last radio, instrument, wheel and bolt.

All that aside, I strongly recommend learning to fly if you're at all interested. I have been lots of amazing places, seen fascinating things, tested my skills, and once bumped into Clint Eastwood :-). I'd be happy to mentor anyone interested in learning -- http://projectpilot.aopa.org/projectpilot/

edit: formatting

to you and others that have commented on the running costs are low...

The example I'm thinking of is a friend who sold his plane for more than he paid for it (I don't know exactly what type but it was more executive jet than single prop - it had a pressurized cabin etc).

Anyway, he sold the plane for more than he paid for it and so after accounting for maintenance and hanger fees he basically only had to pay fuel as his costs (and probably even had some of that off-set by the profit on the sale).

In the same manner I know people who run cars like this - buy sports cars at the top of the list when they come out, receive the vehicle and then drive it for 12 months at which point they can sell it at cost price to someone who would otherwise have to get on at the back of the waiting list. They zero out in terms of loss, and so repeat the cycle having already jumped on the list for the next years model.

You have to have the float for the cost of 1-2 cars but you never loose money net.

It's how the rich stay rich, I guess.

This is possible -- I too sold my plane for more than I paid for it, but I'm sure that's just down to luck. I had one annual inspection that cost ~$3K -- it could have cost $750 or $8K -- you just never know what's going to break next, and in most cases, you cannot just decide to fix the problem later.

An airplane is very different from a car. If the plane has a problem, it must be fixed, within a certain time frame, by an FAA licensed mechanic. Maps and charts are updated frequently, and you are required to have current versions on hand. If the aircraft panel GPS is approach certified, you are required to have updated data if you want to use it for IFR approaches, and on and on. I spent about $10K getting my license, and another $10K getting my instrument rating.

Yes, you can skimp here and there, but there's just no way around it -- flying is not cheap, even if you sell your plane for what you paid for it.

All that said, it's worth every penny. A few years ago, I flew by myself, just for fun, on a clear autumn day from Palo Alto, CA to Little River, in Mendocino County in the northern part of the state. Flying at 7500 feet, I watched the sun set over the Pacific and light up the peaks and western slopes of Sierra. I told the controller I was going off-frequency for a moment and turned down the radio. I could see a ship or two on the water, the Russian River valley below me, and what seemed like the entire width of Northern California spread out across a 270 degree view. Worth every penny.

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