The Cessna 172 is the most popular aircraft ever produced. It was first introduced to the market back in 1956. As of 2015 over 43,000 have been built. Used prices range from $27,900.00 up to $279,000.00
Lets take a look at what it would cost to own this aircraft. Lets start by looking at the cost of an older 172 priced at $27,900.00
Here is a break down of the costs just to own this airplane.
| Monthly Cost | Annual Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Loan Payment (15 Year) | $185.54 | $2,226.48 |
| Tie-Down or Hanger Cost | $80.00 | $900.00 |
| Insurance | $100.00 | $1,200.00 |
| Annual Inspection | $91.66 | $1,100.00 |
| Total Yearly Costs | $453.83 | $5,446.00 |
Now lets look at what it costs to actually operate this airplane. Here we will assume that an engine rebuild will cost between $16,000 and $30,000.00 and that the recommend time between overhaul is between 1,800 hours and 2,000 hours. This puts the overhaul cost of the engine between $8.88/ hour and $16.00/hour. To keep things simple we’ll split the difference and say that for every hour we operate the airplane we need to put $12.00 into a fund to pay to overhaul or replace the engine at the appropriate time.
Lets assume that we will burn 8.5 Gallons of fuel per hour when operating this airplane. We will assume that gas will run you about $5.00 per gallon. Fuel will cost us about 42.50 / hour.