How much is flying a Cessna ?

[Guest]

Hi!This is a queston to all the real life pilots out there : How much is flying a Cessna (or similar plane) for a , let's say 300NM trip ? How much are landing and/or airport fees, much much is a Gallon of fuel (in the U.S. and Europe) and much much do you have to spend for repairs ? If you lent the plane at at an aero-club, how much would they charge (I guess they rent them for the minute, isn't it) [and if I should win in the lottery: how much were a B747 ;-) ]Thank youJ

[brucek 38]

Hi Jorg,I rent a C172SP here in the US (the same aircraft esentially as the default Cessna in FS). It costs me $93 an hour wet (wet means that it includes gas, maintenance, insurance, everything). Landing fees are not usually charged to GA traffic operating under part 91 rules. However, if I landed at a large airport I would be taxiing to what is called an FBO (Fixed Base Operator) that offers pilot services such as gas, etc., and at a large airport here that might cost me in tie-down fees. Signature Aviation is the FBO at most large airports in the western area of the US, I believe.The plane I fly cruises at 117 KTAS, at 8,000 feet (puts me 3,000 above the ground here in the Denver area). So, divide the distance by 117, and you get the flight time. FAA requires at least a 1/2 hour reserve, although I always allow 1 1/2 hours- so a typical flight is about 3 hours max time (and I'm rounding here). Bruce.

[Guest B Bjorkman]

Bruce I bet for 93 bucks that 172 is brand new isn't it. I live in LNK and I pay $60.00/hr for a cherokee 180 with a cruise speed of around 135, however its not brand new. I called up to Omaha looking for a 182 (I needed time in that type for a job) and they had a 2002 182 with GPS and they wanted $260.00/hr! I told them I'd keep looking:)Bryan Bjorkman CFI

[Guest]

Rates here go from about

[Guest skylanepilot]

I own a late model 182 based in the Boston area (Telecom bubble :)). Beyond any payments on the mortgage note, I can count on the following fixed costs / year ...$2500 insurance$3000 annual inspection (can be had for less, but I'm willing to pay a premium for exceptional work)$1000-$2000 set-aside for unexpected maintenance items.$100/month for tiedown (hanger space - which I'm waiting for - is about $350/month)Hourly costs include ..Fuel @ 2.80/gal (average) x 13-14 gph = $37-$40 / hourI also compute an engine overhaul reserve @ $20 / hourParking & landing fees are trivial. Most locations wave any fee with fuel purchase. Even the big airports are pretty cheap (for singles) when you consider parking downtown for the day! (I flew into Dulles (KIAD) last week for a conference and it cost me $10 for a landing fee and $20/night for parking ... it would have cost me more to park my car at the airport in Boston!!)My local FBO has several 182's on leaseback. They're charging $130/hr. (wet). If I roll in the fixed costs, it's costing me about $85/hr. to fly my own for around 250 hours/year ... some of which gets reimbursed by my company.While flying is NOT cheap, there are many ways to defer the costs of flying. Most people look at either full ownership or renting. But there are many other options - including leaseback, partnerships, fractional shares, flying clubs, etc. - which all serve to bring costs of flying down.As they say in the Nike ad ... Just do it!!

[yellow5 0]

I used to work at an FBO and some people thought it would be cheaper to charter an aircraft to take them to where they want to go rather than purchase a ticket on an airline. This is almost never the case unless you travel a lot and need to get to destinations the airlines do not go, or are willing to fork over the money for the convienence of getting into and out of airports quickly. One way I was able to pick up flight hours was to fly people to where they wanted to go and split the cost of the plane. I was not commercial certified, so I could not fly for money. But splitting the cost is the legal way to go.

[brucek 38]

Hi Bryan,Yes- you can still smell that new leather from the seats in it! Plus it's IFR equipped (which is what I'm currently working on), with an IFR-approved GPS, ans 2 axis A/P. It's an SP, so @ 180 BHP.Bruce.

[Guest Smiley]

To add to what others have posted above. A flying club usually cost $3,000 to $4,500 to join plus monthly dues of around $50.00. For that price you get a plane that you know (more often than a rental location) and at a lower per hour cost but, you pay for the fuel. It is less money than renting considering you get your money back if you decide to leave the club. The 3k to 4.5k is a loan to the club that is refundable in full usually upon leaving the club.Fractional ownership is another alternative but, I have read little about it so I won't go into it. It's similar to the Flying Club.I pay $85.00 to $90.00 per hour for an older C172 depending on VFR or IFR rated. It will cruise at 112kts at 6,000' and burn 9 gph. This is the wet cost. Nothing else to pay for to most destinations in my area (PNW-USA). A 1999 C172SP rents for $110.00 per hour and cruises at 117kts to 120kts at 6,000' at a fuel burn of 9.5 to 10 gph.I have read that a person flying 250 hours per year could justify owning a plane outright. Whether to rent, own or join a flying club is something you would need to decide for yourself.I have compared the cost of renting a plane to fly to the Reno Air Races from Hillsboro Oregon. A distance of 377NM as the plane flies. The planes I compared were the C152, C172 (older one) and an Archer. The prices to rent those aircraft that particular year ranked the Archer lowest, C152 next and the C172 the most expensive to make that trip. The Archer had the highest cruise performance of the three with little cost over the C172 (only $5.00/hr). The C152 cruised at nearly the speed of the C172 but at a substancial cost savings ($15.00/hr).The only thing that would have affected the flight between the C172 and the C152 is the fact that the C172 could carry more passengers to share the expense with.I hope this helps,

[Donmo 6]

LOL! Man it's gotten out of hand BIG TIME! Here's a list of what it cost when I was flying:Cessna 150 $14.00 (block time-10hours-$10.00hr)Brand New Warrior 151 $18.00 " " " 161 $20.00 " " Archer IFR $22.00 " " Cherokee 6 IFR $32.00Apache 150 $45.00Aztec IFR $65.00Brand New Seneca II IFR $100.00These were all wet prices. Fuel was 63 cents a gallon. Instructors cost $6.00 an hour / $10.00 for multi and instument.Another example:Brand New from the factory (I used to pick them up at the factory for delivery):Warriors went for about $19-20,000.00. Archers were about $24,000.00. We also had Commander 114's. They sold for $45,000.00 The new 115's are over 1/2 a million dollars now.Thank our countries lawyers, idiot jurors, and greedy familys of STUPID dead pilots for these price increases.Don Moser

[Guest skylanepilot]

So how much was a new car at the same time? I'm betting you could pick up a new Pinto for $2000 around the same time :) And when was the last time you were willing to work for $6/hr?I agree that SOME of the price increase is due to litigation, but inflation has A LOT to do with it! Pilot magazine did a comparison a while back that looked at the price of a new Cessna compared to the price of automobiles. If you look at your example of an Archer @ $24,000, it was about 12x the cost of the lowly Pinto. Today you can buy an entry level Ford Focus for around $14,000 ... a basic Archer runs $205,000 ... so about 14x the price of an "entry level" automobile.Sure, airplane inflation is ahead of automobile inflation ... but not by all that much!

[Donmo 6]

LOL! Amazingly you picked on the Pinto. That's what I had! LOL! Brand new, off the floor, was $2800.00. I also believe I was making either $2.25 or $2.50 an hour back then. Inflation has something to do with it, but not that much. I would go with less than half of that for inflation. Cars and planes both fall under the litigation deal. Look for example of the burning Pinto episodes. TV's haven't gone up that much. Housing hasn't gone up that much. (except in some places) Food is way under that. Gas (car) has held at 2X. Avgas is 4X. Those two are controlled by other measures, but in 25 years, that isn't a huge increase. I don't know of anything besides those two things which has been inflated by that much in the past 25 years.Don