After reading a few blog entries on ownership, I've been reflecting on my experience as a co-owner. By no means am I an expert on the subject as I've only been at it for a year and a half. As with earning your pilot's license though, there is always more to learn. The cool thing about owning is that you have untold opportunities to learn about your airplane.
I've heard many folks say that there is no way that ownership is cheaper than renting. I'd agree that when factoring in every dollar that leaves your pocket when you buy and maintain your own airplane, it's going to be a long time before you save any money (if you ever do). OTOH, the per-hour operating costs of owning *might* be less than renting. In my case, for the first year of ownership, this is true, even when considering our unscheduled maintenance. Bottom line: factoring everything in, it's going to cost a bunch of money. One can blow a ton of money on cars, boats, big houses, etc. Is spending a large chunk of cash on a plane (or part of a plane) really any different? I don't think it is. Given what I paid for a 1/3 share of the Arrow, it's not all that different than buying a new car, maybe somewhere between a Honda Accord and a small SUV.
We've had a few unexpected $1000+ maintenance items and experienced a rather painful first annual (the required repairs, that is. The *inspection* was less than $1000. Still, when I consider how much I'm flying now vs. when I was renting, it's worth it to me. The expression that goes something like "If you can light a $100 bill on fire and watch it burn up without being concerned, you're ready for ownership" is pretty much true when it comes to aircraft ownership. When something only costs a couple hundred to fix, the airplane owner tends to rejoice (I know we sure do).
For us, one huge advantage is splitting the costs among the three of us. As a result, I firmly believe that co-ownership is the way to go. Unless, however, you have a bunch more disposable income and can afford outright ownership. I figure that a three way partnership in the Arrow is a step or two up the airplane food chain in terms of what I could afford if it was just me. This directly translates into my being able to fly a lot more (to the tune of around 170 hours in the first year of ownership).
Convenience
This is where ownership/co-ownership has a real advantage over renting. When I rented, rarely could I make any last minute scheduling changes or go flying on the spur of the moment. Now, even with two partners, it's almost like owning my own plane. Our schedules don't overlap much so there is little conflict when it comes to scheduling. Sure, there are occasional conflicts but we've managed to work them out with no problems. I hear lots of people saying that convenience is the main benefit of paying more to own vs. rent. I'd agree that convenience is a big benefit but it's not the only one.
Chance to be a hanger rat
A true hidden gem of airplane ownership is the chance to transform from whoever you are and whatever you do at your day (or night) job into a happy hangar rat. Whenever you spend time in that over priced metal structure housing your (also over priced) airplane, life is just so much better.
Every time I open up our hangar, I feel like someone should pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming. There's just something about seeing *your* airplane sitting there waiting for you, welcoming you to go fly (or, change the oil, wash/wax, whatever). On those occasions where I don't fly, I have a ball being a hangar rat. I could spend untold hours futzing with the plane or improving the hangar. Oh, wait, I already have spend untold hours doing these things. Can I log that?
Add in the fact that other hangar rats tend to be in close proximity and it just doesn't get much better.
Just last weekend, I spent the morning moving/rewiring the switch for our overhead lights. A simple job that required maybe $15 for wire and tie wraps. Open hangar, turn on stereo, park truck in front of hangar (leaving aviation radio on local CTAF), pull the plane forward a couple feet (so I can walk behind the wing), pull out the tools and life is good.
New terminology, the AMU
I have to give credit to John K. on the rec.aviation newsgroups for this one. It came from somewhere else but I first heard it from him. In aircraft ownership, when talking dollars, there is an important conversion factor. 1 AMU (Aviation Monitary Unit) = $1000. So, when it came to our pitot/static cert., rebuilding our altimeter, and replacing an AP roll cable, saying "The repairs cost 1.3 AMUs" sure sounds better. It worked for the repairs that were performed after our last annual. It was still single digit in terms of AMUs. Proof positive that ownership is expen$ive.
All things considered, I'm glad I'm in the position to co-own and I feel very fortunate to be doing so.
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