NC Bill Posted June 6, 2021 Report Share Posted June 6, 2021 Occasionally I see questions asking for info. I have just completed 10+ years of good fortune owning and regularly flying N544CT. Now that it has found a new hangar I decided to collect my receipts (wife is an accountant so every one is there!) and do a deep dive into my costs of ownership. If anyone now, or in the future doing a forum search, has questions just PM me. I'll be lurking in the shadows. I may have hung up my g-suit but I'm not dead yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyRuggles Posted March 30, 2022 Report Share Posted March 30, 2022 I am searching for relevant cost of ownership details. I saw your thread and thought I would reach out. I tried sending you a PM but it says you can’t accept messages so I figured I would just drop this here. Obviously insurance and parking are going to be specific to me. But over the 10 years you owned what was your maintenance and fuel costs? And obviously anything else you might think would be pertinent to a potential future owner. Thank you for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC Bill Posted March 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2022 Not sure why the PM doesn't work Tony. Haven't made any changes to my account and it always worked before. Anyway my costs of FUEL/MX/PURCHASES for the 10 years averaged $7,178. That excludes insurance and hangar rent. - I kept the plane in excellent condition. No squawk left unattended. All top quality annuals. - used 91 or 93LL and changed oil every 50 hrs and engine oil analysis done - I used Foreflite and Seattle Avionics subscriptions - I upgraded avionics with each iteration of SKYVIEW to finally dual 7" HDXs and replaced transponder which failed annual - I upgraded the panel itself from original to a black matte finish at a cost of $1,025 Gas and oil are the cheapest part of ownership. Let me know if you have any specific questions. There's a lot of data. N544CT@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyRuggles Posted March 31, 2022 Report Share Posted March 31, 2022 Fantastic information! Thank you for your response! I’m in the market for one, I just want to make sure I’m making the best decision possible. It will be my first aircraft purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC Bill Posted March 31, 2022 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2022 If you have questions along the road to ownership let me know. I've owned and sold 5 GA AC. Sometimes an uninvolved voice can be useful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madhatter Posted March 31, 2022 Report Share Posted March 31, 2022 CT ownership is cheap, cheap, cheap compared to certified. Try owning a Baron, C310, Bonanza, C182, even 172's today. Maintenance quality from some places has become atrocious over the last 20 yrs. Most GA aircraft are 40 to 60 years old, high time, and are dinosaurs in technology. 120 knots, high roc, low fuel cost and maintenance you can't beat in a CT. My previous C310 would cost about $175 to $200 an hour just in fuel cost. Even though I did all maintenance and avionics it took a lot of $$$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anticept Posted March 31, 2022 Report Share Posted March 31, 2022 Multi-engine airplanes are going to become non-existent in light GA that's for sure. Useful load is about all they have going for them these days and it's not even that much more than a single engine with a big motor, but still carries that 2 engine gas consumption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madhatter Posted March 31, 2022 Report Share Posted March 31, 2022 The one good thing on twins that I miss is long night flights which I did a lot. One engine out in cruise is a manageable event in a 310 , Baron, or Aztec. Parachute is a good last resort but still a risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trip Posted March 31, 2022 Report Share Posted March 31, 2022 9 hours ago, NC Bill said: Not sure why the PM doesn't work Tony. Haven't made any changes to my account and it always worked before. Anyway my costs of FUEL/MX/PURCHASES for the 10 years averaged $7,178. That excludes insurance and hangar rent. - I kept the plane in excellent condition. No squawk left unattended. All top quality annuals. - used 91 or 93LL and changed oil every 50 hrs and engine oil analysis done - I used Foreflite and Seattle Avionics subscriptions - I upgraded avionics with each iteration of SKYVIEW to finally dual 7" HDXs and replaced transponder which failed annual - I upgraded the panel itself from original to a black matte finish at a cost of $1,025 Gas and oil are the cheapest part of ownership. Let me know if you have any specific questions. There's a lot of data. N544CT@gmail.com Might want to give him a cost per hour of all costs excluding hanger and insurance. Or you could just give him a total cost per flight hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyRuggles Posted March 31, 2022 Report Share Posted March 31, 2022 Wow! This forum is outstanding!! One question did pop up. How has the value of the aircraft held up? I am still in my 30’s, and I’m assuming that I will eventually move up to something a little larger when I retire from the military which will involve probably selling the CT. It seems like look in g at the prices they are currently selling for that they don’t necessarily depreciate too bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC Bill Posted April 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2022 If you buy used, then depreciation shouldn't be an issue. Used CTs have held their value quite well. Of course, the future...who can tell. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted April 3, 2022 Report Share Posted April 3, 2022 On 3/31/2022 at 7:46 PM, TonyRuggles said: Wow! This forum is outstanding!! One question did pop up. How has the value of the aircraft held up? I am still in my 30’s, and I’m assuming that I will eventually move up to something a little larger when I retire from the military which will involve probably selling the CT. It seems like look in g at the prices they are currently selling for that they don’t necessarily depreciate too bad. I have a CTSW I bought in 2013 with 113hrs on it, and I now have 970hrs on it. I think I could get about what I paid for it out of it right now. So all I would have lost would be inflation, and if you factor in I got 850-ish flying hours out of it, that ain't bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted April 4, 2022 Report Share Posted April 4, 2022 On 4/1/2022 at 8:02 AM, NC Bill said: If you buy used, then depreciation shouldn't be an issue. Used CTs have held their value quite well. Of course, the future...who can tell. Yeah, new airplanes are like new cars, the up front depreciation is enormous. I'd let somebody else take that hit. I bought my airplane used with 113hrs on it for essentially half the new price. I think the market is a little less flexible for CTs now, but you'd still save a lot buying used over new. "new airplane smell" isn't worth tens of thousands IMO. But or course, if *nobody* buys new, there are no airplanes to buy used! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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