How expensive is to own a airplane?

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I´m been watching over those years, a lot of TV shows / realities about people that have your own airplane, from experimental to Cessna´s. Mostly of tv shows are in Alaska, specialy bush flyers or seaplane

My question: It´s affordable to US citzens to have your own flying machine? At least here in Brazil, its not so expensive to buy one, but the worst is to keep the maitenance and all the insurances and burocracy.

I know there is such difference between Brazil vs USA minimum wage. It´s very hard to keep the aircraft maitenance here, and at least, seems to be easier in USA, something more affordable to “comon citzens” Anyone here have your own airplane???

How much of that is true? Looks like every american have your airplane inside your garage

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Rough estimate for Europe: Cost of ownership of a C172 is about 1500 Euros per month plus the actual flying of 125 Euros per hour. This does not include the aircraft itself or any financing.

This is why many pilots go for the light category splitting the costs to maybe a third

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It’s pretty darn expensive. Most average wage earners in America wouldn’t dream of owning an airplane unless they were completely debt-free other than maybe a mortgage. With a mortgage, car payments, insurance, healthcare costs, and the average credit card debt, an airplane is still a hobby for the very financially secure, though not strictly wealthy. This gives you an idea. Operating Costs Calculator - AOPA

I think the perspective that Americans own a lot of planes comes from a couple things: 1) Certain careers definitely afford that lifestyle such as doctors, lawyers, tech CEOs, etc. In some areas such as California, there are a LOT of people in such careers. Middle of America? Not so much. 2) Flying clubs. Lots of people share the burden of owning an airplane to make it more affordable.

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This is why I use MSFS. In real life, I drive past the airport and sigh wistfully. Here, I own a Spitfire! :sunglasses:

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Short answer: Lol, no.

Your most entry level plane costs about the same as a small luxury vehicle ($40k). And that’s probably just your basic run down steam guage, beaten up, barely flies 40 year old cessna that makes any A&P mechanic laugh at you in pity. So assuming you’re not buying a new plane there’s all the cost of repairs and certifying that it’s airworthy and if you gotta dig up the maintenance history you might just be OOL. There’s also the cost of getting your PPL (if you’re planning to fly it too and flight school can cost between $50k-$100K). Include the cost of fuel, maintenance and hanger/parking fees and you’re looking at a six figure income minimum to own an aircraft. Don’t forget your monthly note you gotta pay. That’s how you end up on Airplane Repo

If you want anything bigger (say a biz jet) you basically gotta be in the social elite (movie stars, philanthropists, politicians etc.) It’s not that the common man can’t get a plane, they’re just disgustingly expensive to purchase and maintain.

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Best option is a flying club where a group sort of time shares a plane.

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Gliders and microlights are much more affordable especially the ones you can take home with you

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I’ll throw out a counter view.

Yes, any middle class American can have their own airplane. It takes some planning and work, but you don’t have to be rich or elite.

You’ll want to live someplace that’s friendly to and with easy access to general aviation. My folks lived on a small airport outside of Chicago, middle class jobs out in the suburbs. They built an airplane themselves and housed it on their property. There were mechanics on the field, but you can do a lot of the work yourself since it’s an experimental.

I’m in the local flying club and have access to four aircraft. Joining was $1500, the same thing I paid for my GeForce 3090 for Flight Simulator. Monthly dues are less than my internet bill for Flight Simulator. And the hourly tach rate is comparable to renting an SUV.

You can get a kitplane for the cost of an F-150, the most commonly driven vehicle here in the US. You can house it yourself. Fuel and maintenance are large expenses, but they’re certainly obtainable for lots of folks if that’s where they want to spend their money.

Training for my private ran me under $10,000 I believe, but that was back in 2008. I bet some home cockpit setups for Flight Sim are running close to that lol.

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here I see a lot of people opting buying a microlight (experimental) since it carries two people and the fuel and maitenance costs is lower than GA aircraft. We see a lot of jerry-rig, home built planes, powered by car engines or even motorcicles, specialy trikes lol

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I joined a local flying club. Access to 4 airplanes, a 172M, Cherokee 180, Cessna Cardinal and a 182T. $88 a month, with a min of 1 hour flight time which works out to just under $200 a month. Obviously if I fly over 1 hour that cost goes up, but it’s certainly less expensive than owning!

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Amazing!!!

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One of my favorite channels to answer this sort of question is Complete Walkaround: https://www.youtube.com/@CompleteWalkaround/videos

One of the most affordable and coolest planes I’ve seen him review is definitely the Long EZ:

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It’s not cheap, but it is do-able. In addition to the other options listed above, there is also the route that I took - find a partner. Having said that, I should elaborate - find the right partner. One who shares your vision for how the airplane will be used, maintained and upgraded. I have one partner in the Arrow and it has worked out great. We have never. Ever. Once. Had a schedule conflict where both of us wanted to use the airplane at the same time. We don’t even have a set week-on-week-off schedule. We just text each other. If someone has plans to take a longer trip, we text farther in advance.

We split mx costs right down the middle. Hangar costs are split, as well. We safety pilot for each other when we are running close to being out of IFR currency.

We also took our time finding the right airplane. Had a couple of false starts including one that came down to quibbling with the sellers over some items found during pre-buy. Both parties decided to walk away from that deal. A few months later we finally found our Arrow. Had a high-ish time engine, but that was factored in to our offered price. Airplane had (has) a 430 WAAS GPS, Aspen EFD 1000 Pro Max, dual-axis autopilot that couples to the navigator (flies wonderfully). Great airplane for VFR or hard-ish single pilot IFR. Got a pre-buy that didn’t turn up anything serious. Drove 8 hours to do a test flight. Handed over the cash and flew the airplane back home. We have been enjoying it ever since. We did end up getting in to this airplane just before prices started going crazy. Honestly, we could sell it for far more than we paid for it.

Major expenses are - 1. the cost of the airplane. This is the major CapEx. Both my partner and I are fairly debt-free (mortgage is all we both carry), so it was just a matter of saving up some expendible cash. Since this cost was split two ways, it wasn’t as painful.
2. The pre-buy. I think we paid around $500 for this. Seller fixed all the squawks we asked him to.
3. Insurance. This can be pricey, but we shopped around and got a really good rate. We both have enough hours that it wasn’t as painful as it could have been for someone with low time (or no time) in a retractable gear aircraft.
4. Annuals. These can also be expensive, but we have a shop that is honest, family owned/run and we trust them. Every year there are a few items to be fixed, but that’s not a bad thing… you honestly don’t want to defer mx on older aircraft. The problems just pile up.
5. Engine fund. This is something that needs to be taken into account up front. We have a higher time engine, so we are already prepared to pay for a major overhaul or replacement. This can cost upwards of $30k (or more!) so you have to be prepared for it. Even mid-time engines start to tell you it’s time… so be ready for it. Factor this into the purchase price. Again, with a partner, this cost is split up based on hours flown and the time on the engine when we bought it. We also maintain the engine to maximize life. Oil changes every 30 hours. Things like that.
6. Hangar / tie down rent. We have a hangar because we have an aircraft with nice paint and we don’t like to pre-flight in the freezing cold/rain/etc. Since we spilt it, the monthly fee doesn’t hurt too much.
7. Squawks that pop up outside of Annual. Stuff happens. Things break. Avionics go bad. Stuff happens. Be prepared to spend money out-of-cycle to fix things when they break. This can be anywhere from $30 for a wheel cover that pops off and bends in flight to tens of thousands of dollars to replace avionics that go bad.
8. Money for upgrades. Make sure you and your partner are in agreement on what you want to do and when. New interior. New paint. Upgraded avionics. Stuff like that.
9. Gas. This is the cheapest of all the things to worry about. People were complaining when 100LL prices spiked, but, in the grand scheme of things… it’s a drop in the bucket. In a hobby where everything is measured in Aviation Monetary Units (AMU) where 1 AMU = $1,000… gas is trivial.

Anyway… I’ll leave you with this - if it’s your passion and you really want an airplane, there are ways to get one in the USA. You don’t have to be rich. I’m not rich. Comfortable? Yes. Do I work hard and have a good career? Yes. But nobody handed it to me - I worked for it. My priorities are taken care of - mortgage, school for my kid, car(s), money for my kid’s activities, vacations, pretty much everything is taken care of with my wife and daughter. The airplane is paid for out of some of what’s left over.

Save up for it. Work hard for it. Find a partner (or two!) that you trust and get along with and who share your vision for the airplane and passion for aviation. Make it happen. It can be done and you don’t have to be rich to do it.

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I’ve only known two people who own their own personal aircraft They are pretty wealthy by almost anybody’s measure. But I know a dozen or so pilots who have pretty regular jobs who can afford a variety of aircraft and a fair amount of flying time through their membership in a fractional-ownership flying club. I’m medically ineligible for a PPL but if I were able to get one, I’d buy in to a club pronto.

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If you have to ask, you can’t afford it! :wink:

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LOL or maybe you consider a boat, it’s a small hole you put money in to keep dry and move about :smiley:

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I rent from a local flight school. No membership dues, but the dry rate is fairly high. Aircraft are nice, all have G1000 (two are Nxi). The downside is availability. If you book 3-4 weeks in advance it’s generally not a problem, but if you decide on a whim to go flying a few days from now, you’re going to be stuck with few options.

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I am the sudden unexpected owner of a Long-EZ. I didn’t mention in my post above, but that’s what my dad built back in the '80s. It needs a new home and is being handed off to me. So I’m about to find out the answer to the question of this thread pretty quick lol.

It gets better gas mileage than my car, is much faster than a 172 and has more than twice the range, so it’s definitely one of the more economical planes out there.

Already got canard transition training. I’m just waiting on the FAA now for registration before we can get it out of maintenance. I’m flying a virtual version of it in Flight Simulator in the meantime.

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One word - Very!

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It’s often been said that an airplane is like a black hole in the sky that sucks away your life savings. In this economy, unless you’re flying enough hours to defer the fixed costs of ownership; renting or a club/partnership makes much more sense than sole ownership.

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