Ownership Costs

hammer

New Member
Hey ...

I'm trying to figure out a rough estimation of the cost to own/operate a private airplane for a private company/individual. For argument sake, let's say we are talking about a decent King Air 200. I can find some costs out pretty easily ... the cost of the airplane, salary for the crew, cost to park it at the airport.

Couple of other major costs I am looking for some help on ... what is the typical insurance premium on an airplane like this? Also, is there any way to figure out the average operating cost per hour for different types of airplanes? If not, does anyone have an idea of what the typical operating cost per hour is for a King Air?

Finally, are there any other major costs I'm missing?

Yeah, this is hugely vague and I'm not holding anyone to the numbers ... I'm just curious about it before I do some hard research on the topic.
 
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Finally, are there any other major costs I'm missing?


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Maintenance.
 
Try this site
http://www.planequest.com/operationcosts/
From what I have researched, the numbers seem close.

Operating Costs for King Air 200/B200
PQ Avg.
Fuel (GPH): 95.00
Fuel Costs/Gallon: 1.89
Fuel Costs/Hour: 179.89
Oil Costs per Hour: 1.00
Maintenance Cost/Hour: 173.60
Hourly Engine Reserve: 98.15
Prop T/R Reserve: 9.98
Total Variable Costs/Hour: 462.62
Average Speed (MPH): 274.85
Cost/SM: 1.68
Annual Insurance: 16,032.91
Annual Hangar/Tiedown: 11,739.06
Training: 9,429.30
Total Fixed Costs: 37,201.26
Hours/Year: 273.60
Fixed Cost/Hour: 136.12
Total Variable & Fixed Costs/Year: 163,684.26
Total Costs/Hour: 598.71
Total Cost/SM: 2.19
 
You could get 100LL at CGZ for $1.90 about a year ago. Think they're pushing $2.40 now. We're paying $2.50 on account at FFZ.
 
That King Air won't run very good on 100LL.
smile.gif
 
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Finally, are there any other major costs I'm missing?

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Hangar Fees.
Annual Inspections.
Overhauls.
AD's (if any)
 
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That King Air won't run very good on 100LL.
smile.gif


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Acutally, you can run a PT-6 on 100LL. There are some limitations, but as a general rule, if it'll burn, you can put it in a PT-6.
 
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That King Air won't run very good on 100LL.
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Actually...
 
I think that insurance figure is quite low too. Probably a pre-9/11 number?

My former employer manages a KingAir A100, and he once told me that his insurance went up to either $24k, or $34k per year (can't remember which) over the past three years.
 
My company, a KA 200 operator, uses a DOC figure of $500 per hour as a ballpark figure for aircraft operation when figuring cost/benefit versus the airlines or reposition versus layover, etc. I expect that is actually somewhat on the low side.

Yes, the PT-6 will in fact burn 100LL. It will burn almost anything you ask it to ... I suspect one could relieve oneself in the fuel tank and the motor would light right off. However, it isn't terribly GOOD for the engine. TBO comes down SUBSTANTIALLY for every hour you operate with non-jet fuels. Moral of the story, though, is that if you get stuck in your King Air somewhere where they just ran out of Jet A or the truck is broken, you can put a splash of Avgas on and fly to the next airport down the road to get the real stuff without doing serious harm to the airplane.

I had a simulator instructor once tell me that it was a good idea to, once or twice a year, put about three gallons of avgas in a full fuel load on the King Air. I don't remember why he suggested it, but he seemed to think it had some worthwhile purpose.

FL270
 
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