Best way to get twin time?

jimbo

New Member
Hey guys here is the deal, I am married with no kids, and most likely no kids on the horizon. Me and the wife are considering the best way to get to the major's. I am lucky enough that we both have degrees, and just about have the house paid off. i have my private/ intrument/ night/ com. ratings with about 600 tt hours (mostly in 152's and 172).

The wife has about half my totals.

We are thinking of switiching careers since we have always loved aviation. Now i will be up front, i know the air line industry is in sad shape right now, but i am a positive person and know if i can get the propper qualifications i will be there in a few years when the large chunk of pilots have to retire.

Here is info i am needing advice on...

-should i continue training in a single?

-Should i buy a twin a/c?

-What kind should i buy (say under $150 000)

-would it be cheaper to buy a twin and do our hours and sell the plane then to rent for the same time?

-If i bought a twin and let a local school use it would i be able to work a deal like i fly for free, and they pick up the repair costs?

-how many hours does one really need to get into a job at a commuter air line (i know the few go straight to the air lines)

-Can i write the cost of buying and/ or operating a twin off my taxes since i am using it for getting a job?

Also any other advice you guys might have for us...

Ohh also we are wiling to relocate to just about any where. We are looking for adventure and travel, and quite frankly just LOVE to fly.

Thanks for your time.
 
Well I thought other people would chime in on this, but I'll give you my opinion.

I would by the twin. Things you could do with your own twin:

By the twin and get your MEI so you can instruct in your own airplane. You could share your knowledge of aviation in your airplane while others are paying for it. Best thing is, you can log PIC. You could relocate to an area that is in need of a mulit engine aircraft. If people want it, you can charge a good price for it too, making your ownership cheaper.

You and your wife could by the twin and fly around the country together while sharing the time as PIC. It would be a wonderful experience and a good way to see the U.S. and Canada.

Suggestions on the twin would be a Piper Comanche, Seneca, Apache, Cessna 310, Skymaster ( I know it is centerline thrust, but you can still log multi time), and some others.

I would love to be in your position, having your wife wanting to fly also, no kids, and a mortgage that is almost over. You are fortunate so run with it.
 
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I would by the twin

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Be careful what you ask for......it may come true!
Do you know what the costs of owning a single let alone a twin are. I've thought about buying one 1000000000 times over. Its far better to find a cheap rental and split the time. Your only chained to paying $75/hour or so if you split the time, compared to a $25,000 engine job. big difference.


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By the twin and get your MEI so you can instruct in your own airplane

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If you've been around the industry for a month, you'll soon find that twin students don't go walking around airports looking for their ratings. They pretty much are cropped from the time their privates at the school in which they got their other ratings from.

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You and your wife could by the twin and fly around the country together while sharing the time as PIC. It would be a wonderful experience and a good way to see the U.S. and Canada.


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I agree, but know what kind of financial burden your committing too!


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no kids, and a mortgage

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You have a huuuuuuuuge advantage by not having payments for that much longer! Pay off that house and perhaps then buying the twin would not be that much of a burden.

I know I didn't give many suggestions on helping, but I just wanted to you to know what your getting yourself into.


Good Luck!
 
As for taxes, it maybe a tax write off. I am a CPA and also in flight school to get out of CPA hell. But the IRS looks as job seeking as you either have the skill and you are using a search firm, or you want to train for a new job, like learning Linux if you already know DOS. My suggestion is buy the twin for a school as a lease buy back, you will have to set up a business with the plane. This will help with lowering your cost. But the problem with the lease buy back is you may not have 100% access to you plane. But since twins are not as rented as much you should be okay. I do the same thing with large commercial real estate. Start up is costly but the long term is you get cash to help the monthly cost and get to keep the building in the end, and sale it. Planes should work the same way, they usually appreciate in value. Plus having the plane in a company will also limit your risk, plus if it an active investment, it will be run at a lose I am almost certian, then you can run that through your other income as a lose and lower your taxable income. Plus with the new federal depreciation laws you can get a large portion of it back in the first two or three years, after which you will have no need for it and sale it. The only problem is the 150K start up. Tough when you do not have 150K. Ask a local CPA, they should be able to help. But be very carefull most CPA's are not up to par with this type of business. Good luck. And I will send you my bill for this advice.
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If you buy a twin and plan on instructing in it I would make sure you find out about insurance before hand. The premiums for a brand new MEI doing twin instruction in their own airplane are going to be very high. That's if you can even find someone to write you a policy......
 
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If you buy a twin and plan on instructing in it I would make sure you find out about insurance before hand

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I'll save you the time, its about $12,000/year! That's $1,000/month.
 
If you want to buy an airplane, I suggest that you read the May issue of Flying. They give a cost rundown on buying and operating a C182. It is pretty steep.

I would suggest a 4 seat trainer like the C172 or Cherokee if you want an aircraft to build time. You should be able to operate one for about $60-70 hour if you fly a decent number of hours per year. If you are skinny and want to save some cash, you can't go wrong with a C150/152. Twins are not necessarily expensive to buy compared to singles, they are actually a good deal if you need one, it is the operating expenses that will kill you. I would rent the twin. You and your wife could split alot of it and do some 'safety pilot' time.
 
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You and your wife could split alot of it and do some 'safety pilot' time.

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Can you log safety pilot time when both pilots have their instrument ratings already? I would think you can when maintaining instrument currency, but too much saftey pilot could look bad.
 
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