Flying is not the less expensive of all hobbies but I’m convinced that it’s not as expensive as many non-flying persons imagine. One decisive factor is the type of aircraft flown, and the local fuel price.
For this month’s poll, I’d like to know how much you have to pay for one hour of flying with your favorite aircraft. To make an easy comparison, it is interesting to know the type of aircraft, the location where you fly from (region is sufficient, no need to be super-accurate), and the hourly cost in US$. The cost shall include rental and fuel, but no fees, instruction, club memberships, or such annex costs.
As an example, my favorite plane is a Saratoga in Switzerland and costs 450 USD per hour.
Vincent Lambercy is a Swiss private pilot now living in Germany. He holds a private pilot certificate with single-engine, multi-engine and instrument ratings and has logged more than 430 hours of flight.
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Cessna 172S G1000 – $165/hr – S.C., USA
Cessna 172 – $95 UDS/hr – Winnipeg, MB Canada
Rolladen-Schneider LS-6 – $30 (averaged yearly ownership cost + one tow), midwest USA
PA28-161 Warrior – $170
PA28-201 Arrow – $197
Cambridgeshire, UK. (By the way, you didn’t ask to distinguish between tacho time, engine running time or airborne time. These are engine-running hours.)
@Ross: you’re right, so next commenters are also kindly requested to mention if the price is airborne or engine time. This distinction obviously do not apply to gliders…
CP315 Emeraude – France – $90/hour
Sydney, Australia:
C172N – $128 per hour, tacho time
Piper Archer III – $135 per hour, engine running (VDO) time
Piper Arrow IV – $155 per hour, engine running time
Australia in general is cheaper than Europe and more expensive than North America.
Julien.
Central NSW, Australia
C172N – $117 tacho time
Commander 114: $20/hr engine fund, $70/hr fuel, $90/hr total
Seattle, WA
Cessna 182Q – and i’m lucky…it’s a friends plane and i only have to pay for fuel …
Northeast Florida, Cessna 152, $65.00/hr, Instruction $37.00/hr, Hobbs time