SonexBuilders.net

I updated my logbook last weekend and was dismayed to see that I had flown only 33 hours in the last year. As an exercise I did a quick calculation of expenses over the same period....it looks like I paid in excess of $100/hour to fly my Sonex!

Seems that if I would fly more the cost/hr would drop significantly....maybe if I fly enough I can do it for free?

Would you care to break down the costs over the last year for us? Are you including things like insurance, hangar, and other fixed costs? If you are then $100 an hour for 33 hours still seems reasonable to me to have your own aircraft available for use any time you want. Around here a cessna 150 rents for $120 an hour, is boring to fly, and is hard to get on the nice weekends.

Keith
#554

Yes, that is fixed costs plus fuel, maintenance, etc. I guess the point is that there really isn't any such thing as a $35 hamburger anymore.

Hey,there aren't many $100 hamburger joints around anymore.The cost of a hamburger for rental pilots like myself is approaching $125 in a 152,if we are to compare 2 seaters , X33 = an additional $825 /year :o

It's always hard to justify any airplane, but the good news is the more you fly the lower the hourly costs will go! As a basis of comparison, a good friend of mine has a 1966 Cessna 182 and his calculated hourly costs (12 gallons per hour, $350/month hangar), is always between $250-300 per hour.

Yeah, probably best to not think about it, or if nothing else, just keep telling yourself that there are more expensive hobbies out there :D

MichaelFarley56 wrote: ...just keep telling yourself that there are more expensive hobbies out there :D

I know...blondes, brunettes, redheads....

radfordc wrote:

MichaelFarley56 wrote: ...just keep telling yourself that there are more expensive hobbies out there :D

I know...blondes, brunettes, redheads....

:lol:

I've never been able to justify the cost of flying to myself much less my wife. My other problem is that I never fly enough so the hourly cost is something I don't want to think about. Of course we could all just go out and get a hamburger, hand them a $100 bill, and walk out the door to see how it feels. It makes about as much sense as flying. But I gotta say I do it cause it's fun and I like the feeling of accomplishment when it's over. Or is that the feeling of making it out alive???

Flying a Sonex is cheap. I know because their website says so. :lol:

Andy Walker wrote:Flying a Sonex is cheap. I know because their website says so. :lol:

It would be a whole lot cheaper if you didn't have to pay for a hangar, and an annual, and a transponder check, and property taxes, and insurance, and ......