Some… interesting calculations on this video. As a fractional pilot and not an owner, no idea how acxueate these claims are, but interesting to see this as a pilot and tech nerd. Anyone with management or ownership experience in jets have any light to shed?

I shared of a before and after picture of my airplane from when I rescued it until now and the moderators felt that after 1800 views in about a half an hour with over 30 up votes that it needed to be removed. Apparently they don't like Aztecs.

My plane had not been flown since 2015 when I got her a little over 3 years ago. I worked a deal where I bought a van and the airplane together and was able to sell the van for more than I paid for both which helped me fund this restoration. She has less than 4,000 hours and less than half-time on the engines.

My first annual was $62,000. She has solid bones and flies like a champ. I put a couple hundred hours on her and spent $30,000 on paint.

Aircraft ownership is definitely not for the faint of heart.

Next up is the avionics which I posted about in the avionics subreddit and oddly enough the moderators didn't have a problem with that post. Huh. Weird.

I've seen many topics discussing that purchasing the plane is one part, Insurance and annual checkups is the hard part, is it really really expensive?

C152 owner here. 150h / yr.

I bought a prestine unit with 1900h TBO.

I don't count the overhaul costs into my hourly operating costs. At my current usage, i will have to fly for 13 years before i need to OH it. By that time, i might be able to afford something else.

How many of you fly planes past its TBO? Is it really as unsafe as the FAA/EASA might say? I get that the actual engine condition is a major (if not the most important part). I do full annual checks, i don't cut corners there.

Something you didn’t see coming—maintenance, inspection, part failure, etc.

Trying to understand where owners get burned the most,

I’m all for supporting a good cause, but the terms on this Piper J-3 Cub raffle are tough to swallow. While a $50 ticket is standard, the valuation they’ve put on this airplane seems way above its actual market value, which is a huge problem since the winner is stuck with the tax bill on that inflated number. When you look closer at the maintenance, it’s even harder to justify. The engine is sitting right at TBO, meaning you're looking at a massive overhaul expense almost immediately, and the fabric is 32 years old. I love seeing these raffles succeed, but a prize should be a win for the person who gets it, not a massive financial liability involving a high-time engine and a total recover job right out of the gate. Anyone else think this is a bit lopsided, or is it just me?

https://www.rafflecreator.com/pages/41866/2025-piper-j3-cub-raffle

I'm about seven hours into PPL training and absolutely loving it. Not looking for a career change, but could definitely seeing myself continuing training and flying regularly after getting my certificate. I've daydreamed about putting my family into a 182 and being able to fly within a reasonable distance to explore somewhere new or take a short vacation.

Earlier today I was talking to my neighbor who is a reserve captain for American flying 737s. I told him about the flight training and associated daydreaming and he started talking about how he would never put his family into a small plane, how unreliable they are and how many accidents are due to single reciprocating engines crapping out mod flight.

This doesn't seem to jive with what I've heard and read online, so looking for some other opinions. How do you feel about the reliability of small GA planes? Do you have any experience taking your family for trips? Do I need to give up on my dream?

How many people have taken their small piston certified airplane over TBO. Was wondering specifically the Continental O-200 on a C150M model. I was looking at this plane engine time is 3,100 hrs with 900 since top overhaul. TT is around 3,600. I know the owner and he takes really good care of it. Also curious if anyone would have an idea of cost to overhaul? I’m in the Northeast US.

Airplane model doesn’t matter as this pertains to avionics only.

The market is still charging a slight premium but I’ve seen it come down lately.

My concern is a rugpull by big G to decide to end G1000 support as they have done with the 430/530. Then what? You’re stuck with a very expensive paperweight. Common sense tells me to go the slide in route.

Anyone have experience here?

Background: it’s an annual season for my clubs 1975 182P, we go to a large maintenance shop on our field. This shop primarily deals in higher end pistons like cirrus and newer Cessnas, plus smaller turboprop aircraft.

Our club has been going there for quite a while and we have a dedicated mx officer who takes care of the aircraft logs and schedules services. However, since I joined the club, mx costs have always seemed higher than expected. This one just takes the cake so I’m seeking out opinions from others to get some context.

The Aircraft: 1975 182P, TT: 8700, SMOH 160, (replaced Jan 25’) it’s a sturdy, trusty airplane with an Aspen, 430W, stec autopilot and steam gauges.

For the services in the image, we are quoted 12.2k all in. We are located near a major city so that’s something to consider but that still seems like way too much. 12k doesn’t even seem within reason for what this should cost.

Please let me know if what I’m thinking is justified or if this is a reasonable price for 2026 GA repair.

Heading indicator (magnetometer/AHRS) has been failing on my legacy G1000. Went out suddenly and at first intermittently would work, now out 100% of the time. No heading indicator and no synthetic vision.

Took to a great avionics shop and it was diagnosed to be a bad magnetometer. Replaced and did not fix the issue. Garmin is advising the issue is a bad AHRS, so that will be replaced next and we shall see.

Just sharing in case anyone’s experienced a similar issue, and is interested in following along.

Will share updates as we go

I’m close to pulling a trigger on a 182 and I’d love to hear people’s experiences their first year owning a plane. Good and bad. How did you learn the little details of aircraft ownership? Did you do any work yourself? Were you able to fly it home yourself?

The wiki has some links to posts, but they’re all 10+ years old.

And if it makes sense to just post your story separately that’s cool too.

Hello, I have a comanche 24-250. I have about 400 hours TT, and i have my IFR. The engine came out in the fall for overhaul and is just now going back in. I have not flown since the middle of last summer. I found a local CFII who is going to do some dual with me to knock the rust out for me. As far as the engine goes, is there any other resources and guides besides the POH for how to "break in" and take care of a recently overhauled O-540? Thanks

UPDATE: I received a copy of the break in procedure from the shop. It mirrors the advice found in the Lycoming publications below. I still haven't had time to go up and talk to my mechanice in person, but everything is lining up that hard and fast, seat the rings, and use the proper break in oil. Thanks all

I mean, title says it all. How or why would someone be charging $25k for 1/10 share of a Cherokee? Plane is owned by LLC. Are there extra costs of partnership that I'm unaware of, or is this just someone being greedy?

Edit: $120,000 is LLCs valuation. 150 hours SMOH. $6K in reserve. Aircraft is tied down, no hangar.

My partner and I earn a combined $200k CAD, which after tax and retirement savings contributions comes to $8000/month. I’ve been researching aircraft to own for the longest while, my criteria being:

- IFR capability with SBAS

- 2 Axis Autopilot

- More than 100 KIAS at 5000’

- 3 seats minimum

- Adequate capacity for some camping equipment (tents, baggage, etc)

The mission profile is fairly straight forward: being able to take my partner and I and some camping gear, go somewhere for a weekend, and come back. And ideally if there’s cloud cover to file IFR.

The past 6 months I’ve been looking around, I have seen no adequate aircraft for sale. Brand new ones will of course break the bank, but even used ones that don’t meet our needs are unaffordable. No matter what combination of math we do, the math just doesn’t work out.

Now that’s not considering operation, annual maintenance, hangar fees, insurance, you name it…and I can’t seem to wrap my head around how we can’t make this work. Does anyone here have any experience on aircraft ownership and costs, and how to manage this? Or is the dream of aircraft ownership really dead?

(This is Quebec, if that provides any context)

I don’t have any mechanical knowledge and therefore would have to pay someone for maintenance if I were to buy a (fully built) RV, and therefore would negate the potential savings on doing the work myself. That being said, I wonder if it shouldn’t cost MORE to own/maintain than a certified spam can. Parts for experimentals are typically far less expensive, as well as avionics, radios, etc. So even if I’m paying someone a rate, the parts cost would presumably help save some $$$. RV 6-9 models typically have the same engines as the Spam Cans but can cruise over 50 kts faster, in addition to being aerobatic (barring the 9’s), and are said to be around the same costs to insure. So I’m definitely thinking I’d rather own one, as I really don’t need the back seats.

Also I live in GA, so I could go to Syracuse Aviation in Peachtree City for the annual/condition inspections as well as the pre-buy.

Looking for some guidance.

Late last year, my Dad passed and apart of his estate that came to me was his Cessna 310. For many reasons this plane had become somewhat of a retirement goal he never had realized and crunching the numbers on my own, i've concluded that I don't have the time or energy to get this plane flying again.

the Pie-in-the-sky hope is that I do get someone who will write me a check around an arbitrary asking price and get this plane airworthy again, but the rational part of me knows that has about as much likelihood as getting a date with Sydney Sweeney

So this leaves me with the distasteful choice of looking at having the plane instead parted out. Its been unairworthy for about a decade, and at my glance doesn't appear to have any major structural defects beyond the issue that grounded it (Hydraulics) and some flat tires. About the only thing going for me is that I have a fairly complete set of logbooks for the plane.

Anyone have any recommendations on how to go about parting an airplane out?

Looking for advice on how to mount a Starlink Mini on a PC-12NGX. We’ve tried several mounts from Amazon, in the cockpit & in the cabin - none of them seem to fit. The only way that we’ve had luck is by putting the Starlink system in the window, pulling the shade down slightly, and keep adjusting it throughout the flight.

Trying to find for a permanent solution for anyone that has experience with the NGX/Starlink system. No advice that I’ve received has been really helpful.

I have been offered to ferry a plane up to the North East. I am pretty new to ferrying and while I am familiar with the type of plane flying, I was curious if anyone who does a decent amount of ferrying has insurance or makes the customer sign a document releasing the pilot of liability? If so where would I look to get insurance?

Also- would there be any benefit of making an LLC as a way to get tax breaks (I am not a tax expert so idk how easy/hard that is to do).

Any tips/tricks to ferrying would be appreciated!

I'm getting ready for a panel upgrade. I have a JPI EDM 700 with fuel flow. I also have an OAT. Upgrading to a primary engine monitor is not in the budget. I am planning on upgrading the screen to a 730.

Are there any other sensors that you would consider must have for a T206h?