Cost of Annual CFO

Cost of Annual

These pages are a collection of the ideas and impressions of the Cardinal pilots who frequent this site. This information is anecdotal and informal, and may not be completely accurate.

As always, the Cessna operations and flight manual, and the advice of a certified flight instructor, should be your primary source of information regarding the safe operation of your aircraft.
Cardinal shoppers and owners often ask a simple question: how much will this thing cost me to operate?

There is no one answer, but here are a few ideas to get you started.

Update: We are taking a poll of the members as to the costs that they experience. Please check it out at this page.

Contents:


Table of costs
Cost of annual
Keeping costs down

Table of Costs

In my 13 years of owning a '76 Cardinal RG I've compiled the following approach for the cost of ownership. Your costs will vary.. for instance I live on a residential airport, so my hangar cost is either free or very high, depending on how you look at it. We sell ourselves fuel at cost, which makes that cost lower for me. And I can often do the annual in my hangar with only an inspection fee, which is another cost saver.

All things considered, the costs mentioned below are probably a best case scenerio, although you should also know that these are the actual costs that I have experienced in owning my Cardinal since 1987. There have been exceptional years, like our major in 1992, but other than those events these are our actual.

Insert your reality in the numbers below, shown on an annual basis, and you'll get an idea of what it might cost you.

Annual$700-1500 (I've never spent over 1000 in 13 years)
planned maintenance ?? If you do your own owner-allowed work this can be nearly zero.
Unplanned maintenance$500 (An average.. rarely used running 100 hrs/yr)
Insurance $1200 (depends on the pilot, of course, and this one moves with events)
Engine reserve $10 / hour (Adjust up if you're mid-time already)
Fuel $10/hour x your usual rate $2.00? $2.50?
Oil 5-8 hours per quart x your favorite oil price ($2?)+ 5 quarts & a filter every 50 hours
-------------
Upgrades Sky's the limit
Charts / etc $250
Hanger/tiedown local rate: $50-75/mo? Hanagars from $75 - $400
Cost of money Your Mileage May Vary


Annual Inspection

The part of the above table that will raise the most eyebrows is probably the cost of annual. We have all heard stories of those annuals from hell, costing thousands of dollars and taking weeks or months to accomplish.

Personally I've never had an annual take more than 2 days, usually one day. But then we work hard for that time, and I try to keep the airplane in good shape between inspections.

As for cost, in the middle months of 2000 we took a poll of the Cardinal owners who were readers of the CFO digest, aproximately 1100 Cardinal flyers. The following data were collected in that poll from those who participated:

How much does your average, normal FIXED GEAR annual cost?

 Choice   Votes   Approximate %
 FG: under $500  19  22% 
 FG: $500 - $1000  34  40% 
 FG: $1000 - $1500  22  26% 
 FG: $1500 - $2000  7  8% 
 FG: $2000 - $3000  2  2% 
 FG: Over $3000  0  0%   
 Other  1  1% 



 Comments Entered:  

I have all the inspection plates open, the back seat out, and the copilots seat is also out. The pla
owner assisted, usually a 337 or two for mods
9000.00 almost new 68
But a few months later the fuel selector valve needed replacing so $1000 plus if included
pushes 2k with optional extras
Base Price for annual at Decatur Aviation (DEC) is $720 (no maintenance required)
I have a 1973 C177B. Maint. is done thru-out the year. So, the annual doesn't have deferred work.
too much
owner opens and closes
Was 388 this year, 700 last year.
I usually replace somthing old or of a questionable service life. This has brought the subsequent
The ocst of the "annual" runs about $700 to $900 each year. But the repairs and enhancements!
Annual by owner under supervision
How much does your average, normal RG annual cost?

 Choice   Votes   Approximate %
 RG: under $500  8  15% 
 RG: $500 - $1000  18  35% 
 RG: $1000 - $1500  12  23% 
 RG: $1500 - $2000  11  21% 
 RG: $2000 - $3000  3  6% 
 RG: Over $3000  0  0%   
 Other  0  0%   



 Comments Entered:  

I do most of the work in my hangar with a&p checking things out and the AI signing off. I unbutton e
No break for owner assist but I do anyway.
I usually spend about 2 days on an owner assisted annual.
owner assist
I open the plane up and pay the FBO about $400 for the inspection and then do upgrades while there.
I do my own,I am a IA

Keeping maintenance costs down


As can be surmised from the comments above, there are a few common ways to help keep the costs down in your annual.

This is an issue for the advanced operations section. Click Here to be transfered to that page.

Copyright Keith Peterson 2000