[hharney]

It really makes you wonder, are the light twins becoming an albatross? With fuel costs, upkeep, and maintenance of an aging machine, what will time bring? Even hanging at the airport it seems like guys are having a hard time justifying owning a light twin. Owning a light twin for recreational / occasional business use in the past was difficult but today it is really tough. New pilots that have the resources are buying the Cirrus / Columbia type machine or building a kit. The idea of buying a 35 year old, light twin aircraft quite frankly scares them. With the programs that these new aircraft companies have (training, financing, lease back) it is really attractive to these new breed of pilots. It has always amazed me how inexpensive you can purchase some of these light twins. But sometimes the purchase price is the easy part. Once you buy one of these aircraft the cost of maintaining and flying these machines can be a real unknown burden. I just put together a spread sheet of all the expenses that my partner and I incurred in just 18 months of owning a Twin Comanche. We have been very conservative with our expenses and there are lots of upgrades we would like to do but haven’t. In 18 months we spent over $18K (annual, insurance, repairs, minor upgrades, hanger) not including our time doing most of the repairs and not including fuel for the 105 hours flown in 18 months. That’s hard for me to justify let alone if I was 100% owner. Yeah, it’s not a big surprise but most people don’t really look at the true cost of ownership until it’s too late and you have to give up.

I am not sure that I any advice on your question Jim. I don’t know if there is any sign that truly points to the answer other than slowing economy, higher fuel costs and aging aircraft. Pilots love to fly, but one has to be able to justify it. It may take selling the Skymaster and buying a T Craft so that flying can continue. Although the T Craft isn’t going to get you anywhere for business flying it will at least get you up in the air for the weekend pancakes. It’s a critical time for general aviation. Only time will tell how and if we can continue to enjoy this wonderful freedom of flying.