Want to Buy an Airplane? Read This First

Know exactly how much money you need—and will need—to join the airplane ownership club.

Thursday, December 30, 2021 at 08:54 AM ET

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There are many different variable and fixed costs that you must consider before purchasing an aircraft. [Credit: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

The article quantifies aircraft ownership costs by breaking them into fixed (e.g., hangar, insurance, loan, annual inspection) and variable expenses (e.g., fuel, oil, engine overhaul, maintenance reserves).
Using a 1975 C-172M as an example, it calculates that annual ownership costs can exceed $30,000, with a significant portion unrelated to the aircraft loan.
Affordability is heavily influenced by annual flight hours (recommending 200+ hours for efficiency) and can be significantly improved by sharing costs with partners.
It stresses the importance of establishing dedicated reserve funds for major expenses like engine overhauls and unexpected maintenance to avoid financial surprises.

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Owning an aircraft is definitely a matter of High Finances. Figuring out the smartest and most responsible way to do it is a subject I’ll spend the next few columns breaking down.

When it comes to making flying more affordable, I plan to take a more quantitative approach than most. We’re going to look at some specific examples of the fixed and variable costs of owning an aircraft, using a custom spreadsheet. Once we have a handle on the basics, we’ll use that spreadsheet to find ways to optimize and reduce costs.