A different approach towards your ratings

montanapilot

montanapilot

Well-Known Member
So there is the FBO and Academy routes to the airlines.....But have any of you ever considered getting your ratings through comm in your own plane? I am kinda considering the idea. (No leaseback crap either, too much of a hassle). My school has an aviation program so finding a job hunting CFII wouldnt be too hard.

I would take out a loan for an aircraft (less than an academy by the way) train in it, fly it for a few hundred hours or so then sell it. I am looking at IFR 172s, decent engine times and not beat to hell either (nothing too complex so i wouldnt have a maintence nightmare). Aircraft owners what are your thoughts about this idea? I am crazy or would this be a viable option towards saving money, not dealing with the hassles of renting, and possibly building a little equity? (i m so damn sick of renting, always watching the clock and can never keep em overnight unless you use it a minimum amount of hours)

Any advice would be appreciated.
 
That's a great idea if you have the means. The only major problem I see in the future is the fact that you'll need a complex airplane for your commercial and CFI. Not to mention a twin for your multi-engine ratings. These will be issues if you take that route.

You're right about maintenance issues with complex, HP and Multi-engine airplanes. So,,,,just something to think about.
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Definatly a good idea. Insurance on a used 172 should be about $1000/year for a low time pilot. The operating cost would be lower than renting from a flight school (assuming you fly it quite frequently). You wouldn't have the overhead of the building, electricity, etc. that the FBO adds into the rental cost and you could probably get a better deal on flight instruction. At my flight school they charge $32 for private instruction and $35 for instrument instruction. I only get $14 of it, so someone who wanted to train in their plane could offer me $25/hr and we'd both be getting a good deal.

There are also scheduling and maintence issues to think about. The airplane would always be available when you want it, but if it breaks, you can't just go take the other plane.
 
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You wouldn't have the overhead of the building, electricity, etc.

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Yep, but now you'll have a storage cost. Assuming you want to keep it in a hangar. Hangars at my field if you can snag one are $300 and up a month.
 
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The only major problem I see in the future is the fact that you'll need a complex airplane for your commercial and CFI. Not to mention a twin for your multi-engine ratings. These will be issues if you take that route.


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Not necessarily. If you were to do the Multi commercial first, you can do your commercial single add-on in a 172 without a problem. Same thing with the instructor ratings... all you need to do is pay for your 15 hours of multi time to qualify you for the MEI... get your MEI.... then you're home free with the other instructor ratings. Do 'em all in the 172. Paying extra for the multi time is a given, however. Unless of course... you just went out and purchased a multi!

To do it again, I would've thought about doing it. The only thing I never liked about this route was actually finding an airplane to purchase. It'd be fun to look and all... but I'm not an A&P so I really don't know what to look for. I would definitely have an A&P look over the plane before purchase... but I wouldn't even know where to start when trying to narrow things down... 'cept if it doesn't look like it should fly, i wouldn't buy it. Guess that's what those "how to buy a used airplane" books are for.
 
Yes, I considered that about three years ago. The plan was for three of us to buy a light twin, such as a Duchess, Seminole, Comanche, etc. One of us (me) would go to flight school, come back and teach the other two. This was necessary to be able to get insurance. We would all eventually have ratings through MEI, and fly the wings off our airplane whenever we could, offering multi instruction.

When we had all the numbers, the plan fell through. The purchase cost, insurance, and maintenance costs for a light twin were scary. We all ended up going to flight school, and all work for our respective flight schools as instructors.

I think the idea didn't work because it was a twin. Had it been a single-engine plane, it would have a much greater chance of success due to lower purchase cost, fuel cost, insurance, and a fraction of the maintenance cost. (We found maint. costs for the twin to be 3-4x those of a single) With a plane that is well cared for, it might even appreciate in value. You would likely have to get high utilization to break even, possibly even leasing it back to a flight school to achieve that.
 
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Yep, but now you'll have a storage cost. Assuming you want to keep it in a hangar. Hangars at my field if you can snag one are $300 and up a month.

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Yeah, but a good 'ole tie-doe is usually less than $100!!!
 
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