Owning An Aircraft

For those of us who love aviation, there is nothing more satisfying than owning your own personal ticket to freedom. What does it take to own: short answer, money. But not as much as many people seem to think. Prices and costs are all over the map. Some planes, especially these new LSAs and other small aircraft burn as little as 4 to 7 gallons per hour of fuel. Not bad. Buying the plane will depend entirely on your tastes. Fast and high, low and slow. Each has its appeal. How many seats do you want? 1, 2, 4, 6, 8? More seats, more money. My personal mount for the last 18 years has 8 seats, flys at 220 knots and burns close to 40 gph at 75%. I figure it costs me $300 per hour to fly, including all reserves. That's a cabin-class twin and most folks have no need for such a critter where I do have that need. Get a Mooney and you cut those expenses WAY down. You can buy a Mark 20 for under $50,000 and they're terrific airplanes. Get a Cessna 150 and you take another big drop in expenses. I have no personal experience with the LSAs, but I suspect those will be cheaper yet, once everything settles down. Bottom line is, yeah, it costs a bit, but DANG it's worth it! That's your baby sitting out at the airport and you can go fly her anytime you take a notion to do so. The greatest freedom left to us is yours for the taking.