SR22 operating costs

172driver wrote:

Millennials all seem to suffer from the same delusion of ‘free stuff’ which can and does lead to some pretty tedious debates.

I’m not sure it’s all of them, but this I can imagine! Good however that the backcountry flying trend seems to have inspired some of them to fly.

I’m happy my flying and aircraft ownership does not involve debates, except of course those in my own head.

Peter the Cirrus nose gear (like most other aircraft) can be damaged by a heavy/nose first landing but it is a very rare occurrence, the vast majority of the fleet are still running their original part. If your ‘friend’ is replacing this item every two years then it’s not the design or manufacturing that needs looking at.

An old friend and I compared the running costs of his A36 vs my SR22, fuel, landing, parking etc were unsurprisingly similar. The ten year CAPS repack was an item he didn’t have to consider but then again I didn’t need to be concerned about RG maintenance (and the Beech gear design is rock solid) However the biggest difference was the price of Beech spares, all in all the costs were very close with Cirrus being a little cheaper.

Some annual costs,
Parking (outside) – £2500
Insurance – £5000
Fuel – I budget on an average of 14GPH
Annual – last one was £12000 but that included a lot of ‘pride of ownership’ items that certainly weren’t necessary – £8k without.
CAPS – £1800
Engine – 2000hr TBO and I know many people who are running past this on condition BUT they will have done a couple of top ends along the way as continental cylinders rarely make 800 hours

As for running either in a club environment, people will love the idea in principle but baulk at the costs. If you can’t afford to run either outright then group ownership is the way to go, you want people to be invested and look after the aircraft.

Xlr8tr wrote:

An old friend and I compared the running costs of his A36 vs my SR22, fuel, landing, parking etc were unsurprisingly similar

How many hours per year were used in that comparison? both aircrafts using 50h/year? 100h/year? 150h/year?

200+ hours a year for both aircraft

Xlr8tr wrote:

200+ hours a year for both aircraft

That is a lot for one private pilot, above that level I guess one would just get the same hourly rate on A36, SR22, DA42, DA62, anything from 250£/h to 350£/h and 60k/year budget, I guess on sub-50h/year where things are different

I would hope a group aeroplane such as the OP originally suggested would fly more than 200hrs/yr

@xlr8tr where does the knowledge come from that continental cilinders rarely make 800 hrs?

@xlr8tr where does the knowledge come from that continental cilinders rarely make 800 hrs?

Specifically the IO550 engine – friends with Bonanza’s and Cirrus aircraft, A&P’s I’ve spoken to over the last forty years, reading aircraft for sale ads that show top end overhaul well before TBO. Some manage to get their cylinders to last but most engineers I’ve spoken caution that you should budget for at least one top end before full overhaul. Friend of mine had an A36 that was 500 hours past TBO when he sold it and it was running beautifully – however he had done the top end twice in that 2500 hours.

Your experience is different?

Xlr8tr wrote:

Specifically the IO550 engine – friends with Bonanza’s and Cirrus aircraft, A&P’s I’ve spoken to over the last forty years, reading aircraft for sale ads that show top end overhaul well before TBO. Some manage to get their cylinders to last but most engineers I’ve spoken caution that you should budget for at least one top end before full overhaul.

My A36 Bonanza (IO550B) that I fitted with a factory ‘brand new’ engine in 2003 had 1200 hours on the engine when I sold it with nothing other than regular maintenance, having said that, I flew it 150 hours every year and always changed the oil every 25 hours and never ran it LOP.

It was still running beautifully (and flying the same, nothing flies like a Bonanza).