Operating Budget

[Eddie P]

Hi guys,

I am looking to put together a budget on a used RV-4 or possibly an RV-7.

For right now, I'm mostly interested in a hypothetical idea of what I'd be up against. Assuming I could find a good, quality RV-4 for appx. 50-60K, needing no immediate, significant work - Something with a 160 or possibly 180 hp Lycoming, hopefully an IFR panel...

Specifically - what sort of cash do guys put aside for annual, typical wear and tear, long term overhaul, biennial instrument mx, etc. I've been in commercial aviation for many years and know a little about budgets for large aircraft but have no idea what typically has to be accounted for with an RV.

Of course a hangar will have to be a seperate issue and since they vary so much depending on location and arrangement - I'll leave that cost aside and just tack it on to what I learn here.

Do most of you guys put aside a certain amount of dollars per year for fixed items and then a certain dollar figure per hour of flight time to keep the costs predictable?

I imagine I'd put about 50 hours max on an airplane per year, by myself.

How much does it typically cost in USD to operate an RV-4 per year/per hour excluding build/purchase and hangar?

How much would those costs compare to operating, say, an RV-7 with a 200 hp engine?

Thanks for any insight...

Eddie P

 

[pierre smith]

This, maybe

Hi Eddie,
Good, pertinent questions......some I can answer, some I can't. Gas down South varies from $3.75 to $5.00, so an 8 GPH burn on a 160 Lyc would be $30.00 to $40/hour and at 50 hours $1500 to $2000 annually. We pay $2000 or so annually for $65,000 hull insurance and $1 Million liability. So thats $40 an hour flying only 50 hours a year for a total, including gas of $70 to $80 an hour.

As far as annuals go, you can work side by side with an A&P and do most of the work yourself, like changing tires, spark plugs, oil and filter, installing new brake pads, since the FAR's allow us to do that with an experimental....you can do all of your maintenance and just use an A&P to sign off annuals...he doesn't need to be an IA. 50 hours a year won't need new tires or brakes if you use them properly. You'll be amazed at how inexpensive the upkeep on an RV is and in your 50 hour scenario, one oil and filter change.

Regards,

 

[Ironflight]

Do most of you guys put aside a certain amount of dollars per year for fixed items and then a certain dollar figure per hour of flight time to keep the costs predictable?

Eddie P

Hi Eddie,

I can't tell you what most guys do, but in 25+years of airplane ownership, I have never actually put anything aside for future work. I figure that in a couple hundred hours of flying a year, I'll go through a set of tires, a set of brake pads, and oil changes every 50 hours. I am a pretty good "saver", and just figure that when overhaul time comes, I'll pay what I need to do an engine. Flying a personal airplane - for me - is a joy, and something that I am going to do regardless, so I really don't sweat the budget "up front". Besides, my joy of tinkering and upgrading avionics has always overshadowed the "routine" costs anyway....

I'm currently flying my -8 about 300 hours per year, averaging about 7.5 gph, with Avgas running about $3.50 at the cheapest, and around $4.50 on cross-countries sometimes.

Paul

 

[Eddie P]

Thank you Pierre, thank you Paul, your experience is quite appreciated at this point - thank you for the words of wisdom.

There was another thread I just found by Rosie that was also very informative, but the thing I've learned here is that it seems more reasonable than I thought to maintain the RV series of aircraft. I've made a few connections and friendships over the years with aviation meachanics and maybe they'd be willing to provide further direction as I would not be building my own at this point, as far as annuals and basic work like spark plugs, oil and brake changes, etc.

I know there is more cost involved in owning versus renting - but I just can't get excited about renting like I can in owning my own unique aircraft like an RV.

 

[asav8tor]

50 hours per year pushes the hourly cost up quite a bit. Right now I'm a 100 hour a year guy so the costs work out like this:

Annual

hanger 3,600
insurance 1,650
25/hr oil ch 240
filters 60
gas 4,000
annual 1,000 I didn't build it so I have to pay inspection + misc parts
engine reserve 1,000
-----------------------------
11,550

or 115.50/ hour

 

[John_RV4]

similar

My numbers are similar to Mike above with a few exceptions...

My airplane is a late '80s era with 1k hours on it. My annual runs $500 but we always spend $1k on some repair/upgrade each year. Last year, I had the carb overhauled, the year before I did the mags, this year will be the alternator. Of course, tires/brakes/oil etc.

My insurance was $1150 with $45k hull. I have about 100 RV hrs. Frankly, it doesn't get much better than this $$ wise.....

Good luck

John

 

[Eddie P]

The more the merrier, thanks for the responses, guys. Seems like everyone flies a little more than I thought - 100 hours on up. I suppose that's a good sign that there is a lot of fun to be had.

 

[pierre smith]

Addictive

Eddie,
You'll find out very quickly why we fly these airplanes so much. Mine has almost 300 hours in two years already. They're just such a blast!!

Regards,