Airplanes vs. Ferraris as a recreational vehicle

Buy a nice Gulfstream and i will come work for you !

a customer of mine has sold their GIV-SP because their 2nd G550 was delivered.

thats right, they have 2 ! G550's to fly in..... must be nice!

 

I struck up a conversation with a guy in line for a table for breakfast over his shirt. It had a mustang on it and it turned out he owned the plane. It was Lady Jo, a TF model, a trainer. I was invited and flew the plane.

HUGE bang for the buck. Lots of fun. Inverted four times in a 20 minute orientation flight. I gotta get back into flying.

It was a fantastic experience. I am really thinking about it (ownership) more. One thing for shure. I'm going again.

 

The T-6s looked fantastic also. You can actually participate in class out there if you want to.

 

I'm torn on this as well. A nice navion is not much money and great for puttering around alone or with friends. If you have a bit more, a Grumman Albatross - RV, Boat, Plane and Warbird all in one!

Regards,

Art S.

 

He had his plane there. I love seeing it.

 

I just got back from the Red Bull Air Races in San Diego. If you ever get the opportunity to watch one of these races live, be sure and go or check out some on Youtube.These are the best pilots in the world . Makes Formula 1 look like Nascar.

 

Is it bad that I have Barnstormers open in another window?


I was considering adding a 400 to the stable, and actually have the funds here, but now I'm looking at C-150s and Ercoupes. This is bad...

 

I've been a visitor, but rare contributor, to FerrariChat for several years...seldom feel the need to chime-in that often, but your question/comment is one I've often pondered. As a longtime aviation lover, pilot, and aircraft owner (also previous Ferrari owner) I've often compared and contrasted the merits of both hobbies and which one I liked the most. I, too, find that aviation edges out Ferrari (or any car for that matter) ownership. For me, flight is infinitely more rewarding. In fact, when I owned my Ferrari, I always told my friends that it was my fighter-plane for the road...the comparison was always to aviation. Though some planes are often called "Ferraris of the Sky," no one flies their airplane and says, "wow this must be what it's like to own/drive a Ferrari!!!" Yes, Ferraris are exotic, but virtually everyone I know has an automobile, and at the end of the day (yes...go ahead and fire your howitzers at me) Ferraris are still just a car. Aviation, however, as a complete industry still holds a magical place in the hearts of men. It is on every level more exotic than any car, and its practioners...the pilots...are, on a percentage basis, still a very rare breed. Still, the mystique of aviation lies not in it being an ego-booster and separator of the have from have-nots (often seen in the need for an exotic car) but in mankind's eternal desire to escape the "surly bonds of Earth." As for the prices of Ferraris vs. Aircraft, I would venture to say that individual aircraft values have a closer relationship to what they actually are (mechanically, utility, history) vs. most exotic cars which are more directly related to the price someone is willing to pay for exclusivity. Both are real markets, based on perceived needs, but one seems to be based a little bit more on reality than on emotional satisfaction. Buy the T6...it's history is one that helped change the course of the world, given the current price of Av-gas it's price is becoming (perhaps remaining) reasonably fair, and you'll be able to do and experience more in it than in any car ever made.

 

If you have to make a choice, your own airplane is the way to go.

I had to sell my twin Cessna 310 when I became diabetic, and also went blind in one eye. That's over 20 years ago and I still haven't gotten flying out of my blood.

I'd give anything to be able to pilot my own plane again.

Don't be fooled though, with a car you can let some maintenance go for awhile; with an airplane you can't.

It can get very expensive!!

 

Well, I have a short bodied Mooney and I will tell you about the maintenance. It takes about 40 hours to do a proper annual inspection, and that is done every year. If I fly more than 100 hours in a year, (two hours a week = 104 hours) then I have to do a 100 hour inspection, which is essentially an annual inspection. Shop rates for airplanes are running about $80 bucks and hour. That's about the same as for cars. I currently pay about $900 bucks for an annual inspection and my airplane is dead on simple. I help with the work, for example I remove the many inspection plates and the easy stuff. If I just take the airplane in and give it to them and say do an annual, then the price is $1200. The $900 bucks is just the starting point. If I need any maintenance past the inspection then that is extra and the clock starts immediately. Luckily I do a lot of my own maintenance on both the 308 and the airplane. I get everything signed off by an IA and the plane has been inspected by the FAA for the mods that I've done to it. Also av gas is currently going for $4.50 +/- per gallon. The T-6 is one of the most efficent airplanes for converting avgas into noise. What a great noise it is too. My fuel burn is 10 to 11 gallons per hour. Your T-6 is almost easier to measue the fuel burn in barrels. (grin) Yeah, I'm poking a little fun at you with the barrels comment, but it is pretty high. Next you need to look at insurance. Full coverage runs about $1800 per year for my Mooney. Your insurance will be quite a bit higher because your airplane is more compicated and it cost more to fix it if you do something like a gear up. Lastly, you're going to need a hangar. I pay $200 per month for a regular Tee hangar. I doubt your T-6 will fit into a Tee hangar. So your cost is going to go up from there. I'm thinking $300 a month. Probably more like $350+.

The good part about a T-6 is that you will be invited to nearly every airshow in your area. They'll usually pay for your gas. So what you do is arrive with empty tanks and have some gas tanks (55 gal barrels) in your hangar. That way sometimes you can conserve a little for later. Also you can get a movie role now and then and that pays pretty good.

With the Ferrari you'll pay lower insurance, no hangar, and burn cheaper fuel. They are both a heck of a lot of fun. If you have time for the airplane, then use the ferrari to drive to the airport. That's what I do, even though the airport is only 5 miles away. (grin)

Good luck with whatever you do.

Bob Wassam

 

10-4. I went too, and it was really exciting to watch. I think that sport is gonna explode over the next few years. I'm already trying to talk my dad into an edge 540-T. $300K and it will blow the fun factor of a Ferrari out of the water.

 

excellent post. i am going to be taking the IA exam soon. there is a Mr Jeppsen here in Savannah with several amazing P-51's. the sound they make flying over us on the ramp takes my breath away each and every time.

 

I've flown straight-and-level Cessnas and aerobatic Extras, and now I have a 360. I think flying is more exciting than driving any sports car, but only in aerobatic aircraft or warbirds. Straight and level aircraft are very boring.

 

I just bought the SUV of planes - a 1998 182S. I'd say maintenance on a newer F is going to be way less than on an airplane.

 

I actually had the experience of trading a car for an airplane. The car was a 1975 Porsche 911S Targa. The plane was a 1969 Bellanca Citabria 7ECA. It had 1325 hours on it when I got it, and about 1700 when I sold it 3 years later. The guy that I got it from was a wannabe oilman who also had a Piper Arrow, but he never really got adjusted to a taildragger. He gave me the plane, 3 months paid rent for the T-hanger, and $1000 cash for the 911. I estimate that I thus paid about $12K in actual value (in 1983).

The airplance, while offering at least twice as much fun, was also at least twice as expensive to keep. Although the engine had just had a full rebuild when I got the plane, the fabric on the plane was duct tape city. I finally had to let go of it when time came to recover it or not pass the annual. This was also at the rock bottom of the bust when the Oklahoma Oil Boom failed (1986) , and to tell the truth, I was kind of missing having a collector car around.

Nevertheless, I was able to sell it for 25K at the end of my time with it. The new owner was a guy that I used to fly RC planes with who just simply had to have it for bragging rights and did not really even negotiate. Counting maintenance, I figure I about broke even.

I bought the Porsche back for $9,000. It was the third time that I owned this car, but that is another story.

 

Well, other than entering a few raised-nose events, what can you do with a Daytona that you can't do with the Mondial?

 

Ill take the F-16 please

 

You only need to do 100 hour's on aircraft flown commercially or for hire. On your own personal airplane for your own personal use, its just a 13 month annual.

[/QUOTE]Shop rates for airplanes are running about $80 bucks and hour. [/QUOTE]

Wow, its no where near that around here. Still under $40 many places last I checked.

I went through this problem too, airplane or Ferrari. I couldnt justify both so I had to pick one. I finally decided that without an instrument rating an airplane is only a sunny day local thing. You also dont have Uncle watching every move you make. And after 9/11, a car made far more sense. Its better now, but the choice has been made. Kinda. Well everyone sees my crank my head around everytime a plane flies over so I guess im still pretty hooked. The neighbors brother buzzed my house a week or so back with a turboprop Cessna on amphibious floats. I peeled the garage door open so fast he was just over the garage when I looked up. My wife and daughter were just about to yell at me to come look. The look on thier faces with their jaws open was hilarious.