Least expensive path to my own jet?

Given that 40 year old LearJet’s are now in the $75k price range, it begs the question:

Some things I’ve found in my own research:

The older Learjets use older pure turbojet engines that are extremely fuel inefficient and also soon to be banned because of noise at US airports.

There are hush kits available to quiet the engines to be legal, but the cost of those is not clear.

Maintenance costs are legendarily extreme for these older jets, including the “12 year inspections” which many of these extremely cheap used jets may need immediately after purchasing.

There are newer jets “micro jets/very-light-jets” which are much more fuel efficient and likely have much lower maintenance and upkeep costs since they are newer, even though they may have a much higher initial price tag. The “Epic Victory” comes to mind at $1M. These jets get about 7mpg for a cross country trip.

So, lets state our goal as:

-Having access to a jet of my own (or partial ownership), which I can fly solo for pleasure and/or travel.

And to make that goal easier to reach, lets add some possibilities:

-Splitting the cost of the jet among a few other people. Lets limit it to 4 so things dont get too hectic.

-Reducing maintenance costs by becoming an aircraft mechanic. (a few years of vocational school is alot cheaper than $200k engine rebuilds). This is only if needed. I.e. if its an older jet then this may make sense. If its a newer jet it may be cheaper or more reasonable to just pay someone else to do the work.

-Becoming a jet pilot from 0 experience. Commercial or private depending on what makes the most sense (if taking passengers can somehow pay for the jet/training/maintenance).

So, in 2014, just how cheap can it be to become a jet pilot, own your own jet, and also become a jet aircraft mechanic? Sort of the same idea as if we all had flying cars, it would be pretty much the same thing?

Off the top of my head, based on Canada training which is very similar to US training -

You’ll need a private pilot’s license, and then IFR - instrument rating (IIRC, required for flying over 18000(?) feet). you probably want a night-time endorsement. That will probably run you minimum $20,000 in training, probably at first in small prop planes, you aren’t going to start learning in a jet.
Unless you choose the Victory, you’ll also need a twin engine rating.
Not sure if there’s a jet rating, but definitely you’ll need type training on the specific aircraft.

Some of the larger airports that have runways long enough for jets probably have higher landing and hanger fees.

Aircraft need to be repaired with certified parts. Not sure, but I suspect if you have a significant technical failure needing repair, you will pay through the nose for certified parts for obscure and older aircraft.

Thank you MD2000!!!

I have asked this question on aviation “enthusiast” forums and gotten much less discussion about the topic at hand and alot of tangents. Your thoughtful and on-topic answer speaks very well of this forum.

The sweet spot I’m trying to find is to see if there is some way I can get the revenue to help offset the costs. The revenue being leasing of the jet to flight schools/charter companies, and the possibility of passengers at some point, and the costs being the purchase and maintenance of the jet, and the pilot training.

I admit it seems a little pie-in-the-sky. But, if you look at it simply as starting a charter jet company of your own, then its all been done before really and apparently you can make a profit.

The extra time and expense here is paying for the training of the pilot. But compared to the aircraft expense and the prices you can charge for passengers, that doesn’t seem like a show stopper. Especially considering that charter jet companies are surely paying pilots more per year than it costs to learn to be a pilot per year.
Another positive about this idea is that I don’t need to make a profit. Breaking even would be fantastic. So would offsetting the costs a significant amount even if its not 100%.

So I think I’ve answered my own question…I need to look at this as:

“What are the costs and time associated with starting your own private jet charter company with the goal being to pay off the jet and training require to become a pilot.”

Does that sound right?

The essential problem you face is this: The super cheap jets are the ones that are run out and cannot legally be operated for more than a handful of hours before a million dollars of maintenance work is needed. You cannot build a business around buying such a $75K airplane, flying it for two days or two weeks and then parking it forever and buying another $75K airplane to use for the next two days / weeks.

Obtaining a US jet mechanic’s license is a full time project taking 2-4 years and involving a mandatory apprenticeship at somebody’s existing aircraft maintenance business lasting at least a year. Depending on how you earn a living now, there could be a pretty hefty up front opportunity cost associated with developing that skill. And the cost of jet maintenance work is about 75% parts & special tools and about 25% labor. Doing your own wrenching saves at most 25%, assuming your wrenching time is free including any opportunity cost.

Obtaining a US jet pilot’s license is similar. No formal apprenticeship is required, but the cost to go from total newbie to skilled enough to fly a jet alone will cost serious money, e.g. $75-150K. To get to the place where you could act as an aerial chauffer for hire will cost far more and take a couple of years. In many cases the limiting factor is not the FAA regulations, but rather the requirements of the insurance company that won’t issue you a policy to cover your business with such an inexperienced pilot.

To go into the commercial charter business you also need FAA approval of your business & operating plans. That alone takes a couple years and costs serious money creating all the documents and sheparding them through the gov’t approval sausage factory.
By far the cheap way to do this is to buy a relatively new jet in partnership with 3 other like-minded individuals who are already jet pilots. Pay for mechanics, don’t try to be your own. Meantime, spend 2 years getting the relevant pilot license(s) and enough experience to be insurable.

It oughta cost you about $500K cash up front by the time you’re ready to go. You’ll then pay your annual upkeep costs of very roughly $50K. This is each and every year. And to top it off it’ll cost you about $800 / hour to enjoy your new hobby. And each of your three partners will have a similar outlay.

That’s what we call “cheap flying” in the jet biz.

If you want to cut those costs by 90%, just get a small simple Cessna & be happy to fly in the aerial equivalent of a 1970 Ford.

If you want to think out of the box a bit, how about a glider that launches with a retractable jet engine? Below is one example but there are others. Get enough altitude, turn off the jet and soar like an eagle. Much more fun than boring holes in the sky in a Cessna.

Even if you get your A&P license, there are some critical things that require inspection of a second mechanic. And if you think labor is costly, wait until you see the price of the parts.

Velocity XL RG jet.

You’ll still need a type rating, of course.

You want an ultra-cheap jet?

MAKE YOUR OWN!

Make a turbojet out of a turbocharger
http://www.reaa.ru/yabbfiles/Attachments/Names.jpg


and mount it on an ultralight
http://www.air-and-space.com/20060819%20Camarillo/_BEL0906%20Quicksilver%20MXL%20ultralight%20left%20side%20in%20flight%20l.jpg
:smiley:

Yes. When I was doing my private pilot license (late 70’s) there was a common investment profile that looked something like this -

Rich guy - doctor or lawyer, say - has a wad of cash. Buys a plane - this is just the down payment; the rest is a loan. The owner then leases it to the flying school/charter service, which treats it as one of their own, leases it out by the hour to paying customers or students. They pay the owner a per hour (per engine hour - aircraft are leased by the running hour usually) share of the revenue, and also takes care of the maintenance, charged against the revenue they would give to the owner.

Owner uses revenue stream to pay off loan. Interest on loan is tax deductible business expense, as is the maintenance. If the owner is lucky, they get enough to pay the loan, once the tax deductions are taken into account. When the loan is paid off - say, 10 years later - he owns an aircraft outright. Aircraft typically don’t depreciate much, unlike automobiles. So the owner can recoup a lot of his cost by selling the aircraft. This is capital gains, typically taxed at a much lower rate.

However, the plane is an asset and investment, not a toy. If the owner wants to use the plane, they rent it like anyone else. Not bad - it rents for, say, $X an hour. you are essentially paying that to yourself, minus the flying school or charter operator’s cut of the rental. So you are essentially renting it from yourself, money out of one pocket, and most of it back into the other.

the downside is of course, if the business is slow, you absorb that risk. If the operator has their own planes, they will use those first, more money for them.


If you want to fly commercially, they you need a commercial pilot’s license. That’s 200 hours just to qualify, and IIRC needs to be re-certified fairly regularly (every 6 months?) as opposed to my private license that only needed 45 hours. Once you have that, nobody is going to hire your for multi-million-dollar jets. The usual path is that the flight instructors are eking out a living (my nephew lived at home for 2 years) before getting into the small prop flying and then the turboprops with 20 passengers or so.

After several years of working your way up, you may eventually b flying commercial jets. I suspect those who have business jet experience came up the same way, although a lot of military pilots take the alternate route with fighters first, then possibly transport aircraft.

LSLguy is right. Charter operators need licensing and approval. they want to be sure they don’t end up with starving operators who cut corners to keep the doors open. It’s not something you’ll do without an experienced partner and some lottery winnings.

Also, another route to private ownership is, as LSL says, shares. I’ve known groups where 4 guys owned shares in a small plane - but then, we’re talking $100,000+/- Piper or Cessna. getting 4 guys together who only want a quarter of a Learjet and also have the money, the training, and the desire to use it - pretty difficult. Then if one wants out, what’s the solution? Who gets to schedule what? How are operating and maintenance costs figured? (Operating hours - then the guy who drops out simply makes the regular maintenance a 3-way bill for the rest).

Aircraft mechanic, too, isn’t something you learn from the school on the matchbook cover. It too is an apprenticeship arrangement and tests, some serious experience alongside existing techs.

If you want fast and hot aircraft and you have a few hundred thousand, if you are a good mechanic type, I would suggest you look at a homebuilt. Something like the Rutan Defiant (twin engine, 200mph+, 1100mile range) or the mentioned Velocity jet. meanwhile, take flying lessons to ensure that this is actually something you’d enjoy. At very least, take a ground-school class where you’ll learn the rudiments of piloting - the mechanics of flight, about the aircraft, and particularly the involved aircraft operation regulations. (Except home built aka experiment aircraft cannot be used for commercial purposes).

Didn’t you ask this on POA?

If you have no training now, you’ll need to get a private license, then get instrument rated, multi-engine rated, get your commercial license, then a type rating in whatever model of jet you want to fly.

I would figure on at least $75K to do this (multi-engine and jet rentals are not cheap).

Now you need to buy, insure and maintain a jet. Unless you have at least 5-10 million in cash available (since you want to fly it too), I don’t think this is going to happen.

How many expenses you have paid?

Even flying small prop aircraft for fun is not in the “cheap” category. Friend of mine got hi private pilot license about year 2000 and it cost him, he estimated, $12,000

I don’t think the OP actually wants to do this. I think he’s really trying to figure out what having the equivalent of a personal flying car actually costs. I find the answer interesting as well.

More advanced technology doesn’t help these costs much. Let’s see :

  1. Slightly more efficient engines that burn hydrocarbons. Maybe hugely increased thrust and vectoring engine mounts. Disadvantage : if the world of 2050 or 2100 when we have better engines and vectoring engine mounts, fuel is still hundreds of dollars an hour.

  2. Nuclear engines. Yeah, right. The gamma ray and neutron flux from a nuclear engine able to support it’s own weight is very high. Not only is making the shielding for it very difficult, but it would be uninsurable for obvious reasons.

  3. LENR nuclear engines. Assuming they even work, the same problem as #2, just now you can’t run air right through the reactor core because it would disrupt the delicate sauce that makes LENR supposedly work.

  4. Nanotechnology and self replicating manufacturing. This would in theory work. The world would now have enough production for everyone to have a flying car. Of course, in practice, certain wealthy people would own all of the nanofactories on the planet and ordinary people still would not have a big enough share to have flying cars…