The hourly rates topic concerned with General Aviation is that of a very popular one, and has certainly always been present in schools and clubs I have visited so far. It is usually ranked #3 on the club conversation charts, after the Endurance/Nautical Miles per gallon and who does the best bacon sandwich comparisons. Of course, once established on a course at the flying school or flying club, or under the present soon to be adopted name, RTF's, (Registered Training Facilities), then the decision has been made besides many other various considerations, that the hourly rate is acceptable. It is not unpopular for schools to offer discount when buying a course upfront, or paying in block hours, for example, 10 hours at a time, may offer a saving of around £200 for hour building. We all have financial considerations and in result, differences of opinion to determine whether or not the saving to be made vs the financial security of the concerned school is worthwhile, however, a brief analysis of the latter from released figures in media as well as any personal reassurances of such organisations may not tell an upfront truth and may paint quite a different picture further down the line of training, well where professional flight training is concerned anyhow.
So, to share the highest hourly rate I have recently read about, concerned the Hughes H-4 Hercules, known as the Spruce Goose, made almost entirely from Birch, not spruce wood as the name may suggest otherwise, with a wingspan of 97.5 meters, powered by 8 Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major Radial engines for the use of transatlantic transport during World War 2. The Spruce Goose, that never advanced past Prototype design, was extremely late to arrive, only ready to fly in 1947, leaving its purpose during the war as history. On the 2nd November, 1947, Hughes loaded the Hercules with 36 people, and commanded the almighty giant from the left hand seat, into the air just off the shore of Long Beach, California. It cruised for around 1 mile, at an altitude of just 70ft and that was Hughes's and the Hercules' maiden and regrettably, last flight. From there on, she remained hangered and looked after in an air conditioned hanger by many staff until Hughes' death in 1976, aged 50.
So, the cost of this extraordinary piece of aviation history...estimations reveal it would have cost around $23 million (back in 1940 dollars), and around $1 million a year for storage. Converting that cost into the dollars of the present day results in around $420 million! With the first and only flight lasting no longer than around 45 seconds, that equates to an hourly rate of around $33.6 billion for the largest flying boat ever built to the present day!
So, the cost of this extraordinary piece of aviation history...estimations reveal it would have cost around $23 million (back in 1940 dollars), and around $1 million a year for storage. Converting that cost into the dollars of the present day results in around $420 million! With the first and only flight lasting no longer than around 45 seconds, that equates to an hourly rate of around $33.6 billion for the largest flying boat ever built to the present day!
 |
'Hughes H-4 Hercules - An hourly rate of around $33.6 billion'!
As this blog was solely intended on sharing with you that unbelievable story that I came across, It only leaves me interested and eager to find out the cheapest hourly rate that has ever been known, remaining in the same category of engine as the Spruce Goose, The Piston Engine. I shall do a follow up blog with my findings in the near future.
On the contrary to the most expensive hourly rate, throughout my years of training so far, during some of the highest prices of oil per barrel the economy has witnessed since the mid 1980's and of course, the peak during mid 2008 where oil rose to around $145 per barrel, I have still managed to surprise many with the hourly rates I managed to hunt down during the daunting experience of having to achieve 100 hours Pilot In Command/P1 having on average 12-15 after gaining the Private Pilot Licence.
Before deciding to get myself over to the USA to complete the majority of my hour building, I went off to Ravenair at Liverpool, flying Single Engine PA38-Tomahawks for just £85 an hour...WET! The condition at the time was to purchase 10 hours upfront, with landing fees NOT included (It would be totally unbelievable if they were)! So for £85 an hour, your fuel, oil, maintenance, support from the school, secured parking, maintenance and upkeep of all required documents and manuals came with the price.
Too good to be true - only this was nothing but the truth! Bare in mind the US General Aviation market just can not compare to the current situation of the UK General Aviation market in relation to landing fees, customer service, flying v.a.t, parking costs and on subject, fuel costs etc however, as the Spruce Goose took maiden flight in California, it is only fair to enter my USA contender for the lowest hourly rate I have experienced and here it is....
$85 Dollars an hour, including Renters Insurance and No Landing Fees!
Chandler Air Service, situated just South East of Phoenix, Arizona, is where in my opinion the heart of General Aviation is found. Flying alternatively 2 PA28-140 Cherokee aircraft, with great flexibility, flying every day for just over 3 weeks, being welcomed all over the Western States, no landing fees, again well maintained aircraft considering they have been around since the cold war! and great endurance, with the ability to fly for approximately 5 hours 30 minutes with 2 on-board, and renters insurance included for $85 an hour WET...that equates to around £53 with just the state and city tax to add on which was at the time 8% = $6.63 which is around £4.00 an hour so in total = £57.00 an hour Wet! And believe me, the flying out there was the best fun I have ever experienced all for less than 1p a Minute! (Cheaper than calls to other UK mobiles with most service providers)! After completing just over 52 hours here, I was in a much better financial position than what the alternate option had to offer.
So, putting all the un-practicalities aside of the present day operational requirements, but still casting a memory back to 1927, when Charles Lindbergh piloted his Spirit of St.Louis across the Atlantic in a non-stop trip between New York and Paris, you could fly from Chandler, Arizona, across the pond to the UK and back again, taking 86 hours at an average speed of 120 knots to cover the 10400 miles and costing a grand total of £4905, in comparison to costing just short of £5000 for a return ticket on British Airways in Business/Club Class with all the restraints you have as a passenger. The former would of course deal with hour building post Private Pilot (if going for professional licences of course), you could choose who you wanted to spend the time sat next to (a safety pilot would be a wise idea) and you could have total control over the temperature of the cabin!
After my training at CTC, which on the topic of low hourly rates is not relevant to bring up in this part of the post, ha, I headed off back to Liverpool, this time to MerseyFlight, with the interest on hiring a very elegant, well conditioned PA28-140 again, to fulfill the rest of my Pilot In Command hours needed.
Flying G-BSLU (pictured right) for £115 per hour WET, inclusive of VAT but not including landing fees. Again, 10 hours had to be purchased upfront but to have access to such aircraft, to be able to carry 3 passengers with 3 hours 30 minutes of usable fuel for this price is a real package I couldn't turn down.
On the contrary to the most expensive hourly rate, throughout my years of training so far, during some of the highest prices of oil per barrel the economy has witnessed since the mid 1980's and of course, the peak during mid 2008 where oil rose to around $145 per barrel, I have still managed to surprise many with the hourly rates I managed to hunt down during the daunting experience of having to achieve 100 hours Pilot In Command/P1 having on average 12-15 after gaining the Private Pilot Licence.
 |
| Image taken by self at Liverpool |
'Ravenair: PA38-112 Tomahawk - An hourly wet rate of £85'!
 |
| Image taken by self at Wimslow, Arizona |
Too good to be true - only this was nothing but the truth! Bare in mind the US General Aviation market just can not compare to the current situation of the UK General Aviation market in relation to landing fees, customer service, flying v.a.t, parking costs and on subject, fuel costs etc however, as the Spruce Goose took maiden flight in California, it is only fair to enter my USA contender for the lowest hourly rate I have experienced and here it is....
$85 Dollars an hour, including Renters Insurance and No Landing Fees!
Chandler Air Service, situated just South East of Phoenix, Arizona, is where in my opinion the heart of General Aviation is found. Flying alternatively 2 PA28-140 Cherokee aircraft, with great flexibility, flying every day for just over 3 weeks, being welcomed all over the Western States, no landing fees, again well maintained aircraft considering they have been around since the cold war! and great endurance, with the ability to fly for approximately 5 hours 30 minutes with 2 on-board, and renters insurance included for $85 an hour WET...that equates to around £53 with just the state and city tax to add on which was at the time 8% = $6.63 which is around £4.00 an hour so in total = £57.00 an hour Wet! And believe me, the flying out there was the best fun I have ever experienced all for less than 1p a Minute! (Cheaper than calls to other UK mobiles with most service providers)! After completing just over 52 hours here, I was in a much better financial position than what the alternate option had to offer.
'Chandler Air Service: PA28-140 Cherokee - An hourly wet rate of £57 - Less than 1p a minute - Cheaper than calls to other UK mobiles with most service providers'!
So, putting all the un-practicalities aside of the present day operational requirements, but still casting a memory back to 1927, when Charles Lindbergh piloted his Spirit of St.Louis across the Atlantic in a non-stop trip between New York and Paris, you could fly from Chandler, Arizona, across the pond to the UK and back again, taking 86 hours at an average speed of 120 knots to cover the 10400 miles and costing a grand total of £4905, in comparison to costing just short of £5000 for a return ticket on British Airways in Business/Club Class with all the restraints you have as a passenger. The former would of course deal with hour building post Private Pilot (if going for professional licences of course), you could choose who you wanted to spend the time sat next to (a safety pilot would be a wise idea) and you could have total control over the temperature of the cabin!
 |
| Image by Simon at Merseyflight, Liverpool |
Flying G-BSLU (pictured right) for £115 per hour WET, inclusive of VAT but not including landing fees. Again, 10 hours had to be purchased upfront but to have access to such aircraft, to be able to carry 3 passengers with 3 hours 30 minutes of usable fuel for this price is a real package I couldn't turn down.
'MerseyFlight: PA28-140 Cherokee - An hourly wet rate of £115'!
Extremely well maintained, almost unrestricted availability at the time, inclusive of fuel and oil and immaculate condition of interior and exterior, even during the time the Sahara sand blanketed the UK during early 2014, the sand did not have time to settle on this remarkable machine!
So like always, I've digressed slightly on what should have been a short topic on the most expensive hourly rate known to the present day, but I think sharing my personal encounters with the worthwhile less expensive rates of recent years, despite the rising cost of oil, (until of recent months) recessions, VAT and privately owned airfields with heavy charges proves to be quite an eye opener! Of course, where there lies competition will always produce competitive hourly flying rates, and I'm sure the rates of the North, may seem non-reality to the South, but on the contrary, vastly expensive to the States.
There are great hourly rates through packages available out there, and as the PA28's and C152's of this world are not getting any younger, I remain confident that attractive rates for these aircraft will continue to be on offer for hour builders before their role in the industry becomes a flying legacy!
I welcome and look forward to hearing any discoveries of reasonable or expensive flying rates, encountered by yourself or that you have read about such as the one above.
Please note all prices and conditions I have quoted was during the time I was hour building, ranging from 2012-2014 so therefore will most likely not be representative of the present day's rates.
http://www.ravenair.co.uk/
http://www.aerobatics.com/
http://www.merseyflight.co.uk/
By PianoPilot
So like always, I've digressed slightly on what should have been a short topic on the most expensive hourly rate known to the present day, but I think sharing my personal encounters with the worthwhile less expensive rates of recent years, despite the rising cost of oil, (until of recent months) recessions, VAT and privately owned airfields with heavy charges proves to be quite an eye opener! Of course, where there lies competition will always produce competitive hourly flying rates, and I'm sure the rates of the North, may seem non-reality to the South, but on the contrary, vastly expensive to the States.
There are great hourly rates through packages available out there, and as the PA28's and C152's of this world are not getting any younger, I remain confident that attractive rates for these aircraft will continue to be on offer for hour builders before their role in the industry becomes a flying legacy!
I welcome and look forward to hearing any discoveries of reasonable or expensive flying rates, encountered by yourself or that you have read about such as the one above.
Please note all prices and conditions I have quoted was during the time I was hour building, ranging from 2012-2014 so therefore will most likely not be representative of the present day's rates.
http://www.ravenair.co.uk/
http://www.aerobatics.com/
http://www.merseyflight.co.uk/
By PianoPilot
