Buy A Plane Or Rent? Options

[livingwarbirds]

If one is really passionate about learning to fly, and continuing to fly after getting a license, does it make sense to buy a plane such as a Cessna 152 or similar, rather than renting one for lessons?

Seems they can be bought for less than a car!

How much does insurance typically cost?

Thanks for your help.

[ChillSpiller]

I'd guess it is right what AirRabbit is thinking that he is thinking about Beckys thoughts. That is if I am right in what I am thinking... erm, however.

Welcome to the forum livingwarbirds!

I can only agree to what both of them said. It's not only the insurance you have to think of but maintenance and overhaul all adding up to a nice stack of money each year. Some of it you will also have to pay no matter if you are flying or not. Then you'd also need someone to look into the books. Unless you weren't born rich I'd rather rent, join a club or have a shareholdership.

[BMeister]

To Own or not to Own

That is a really good question. If I was to start my flight training over again, back to my student pilot days all the way through my Flight Instructor ratings, I would turn around to you and say, the best I would of done is to buy a Used C172 in an airworthy condition.

Why??

Well... You rent an aircraft for every hour, and all your doing is making another person rich, or buying the plane for another person?? Just like renting an apartment, your making the owner richer...

Why would you want to throw away dead money?? Well... obvious reasons would be because you dont have that sort of money to go out and buy a used C172.

Why is it a very good Idea to buy a plane now??

Answer is simple, the econemy is really tough, you can get planes for pennies on the dollar, I mean there are some really great deals out there.

Advantage of buying a plane, Buy a plane at an amazingly great price with the deals people are giving away because they need the extra money.... so you buy the plane, rack up several hundred hours or a couple of thousand, when the econemy picks back up again, turn around and sell it, you might even be able to sell it for the same price you bought it for when the prices of things go back up, so you've racked up flight time, and got all your money back on your plane, or close enough...

Bottom line,
Buy a plane, especially now, fly for several hundred hours, sell the plane for the same price you bought it, and all that money you would of wasted renting planes and throwing away dead money, you could essentially own the plane and basically fly it for free. obviously expenses, Annual Inspections, Piotostatic/Transponder and Altimeter inspections and hanger tie downs, which I hear is anywhere from $20-30 a month. and fuel per hour which is around 5-8 Gallons an hour roughly.

If I could do all again from the beginning I would own my own plane and rent an instructor, to teach me to fly in my own plane...


infact Im thining about buying my own plane and instructing in it, now that I'm qualified.

Best Regards
Everyones financial situation is different, in an Ideal world the above would make the most sense.

BECKY- I'm sorry to hear that your other half doesn't support your passion and love to fly.