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What is included in the hourly rate of a rental?

Asked by: 2317 views , , , ,
Flight Instructor, General Aviation, Light Sport Aircraft

Hello,

So, I'm a paramotor pilot & soon to be instructor. I've been flying for a few years now and I'm thinking of opening a flight school. I've been working on my business plan. But one thing that is hard for me to figure out is the cost breakdown and percentages for renting an aircraft.

Does anybody have a formula that they can pass on to help me figure out how much I should be charging?

Or even what is included in the hourly rate of a rental?

(I. E. Maintenance, Fuel/oil, Insurance......)

Seeking guidance on this issue.

Thank you Robert.


(Real quick background: In paramotor flight instruction, a student would generally pay a fixed price; for example $2,300 for the training and then heavily encouraged to purchase equipment right away to limit any type of gap between training.

The difference between my school vs others in my area is that I would offer rentals and most flight schools don't have and those that do require a deposit; 3/4 cost of the equipment.)

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1 Answers



  1. Pilot Right on Dec 20, 2020

    I can’t say exactly, and I don’t know much about the paramotor stuff. But for airplanes, there’s a matrix of fixed and variable costs, and the more it flies the cheaper per hour it really becomes. But when I put together a spreadsheet years ago on the operating costs it included things like:

    Fuel: So the rate it burns gas and price per gallon. This would be more so if you go with a “wet rate”
    Tiedown / Hanger fees
    Annual Inspection
    100 hour inspection (if required)
    Insurance
    Overhaul
    Hourly Reserve (oil and other things)

    Things like Fuel, 100 hour, Overhaul, and Hourly Reserve stay the same no matter how much it flies. The price of gas I guess can change, but the burn rate you can assume a set number.

    Tiedown / Hanger, Annual, and Insurance all become “cheaper” per hour the more it flies since they are a time based expense rather than engine hours. To figure out how much it cost / to charge, you’d need to guess or set a certain number of hours it would fly per month. The less you consider or plan, then the more per hour, but that might be a safer bet?

    Also, most aircraft are charged by hobbs time and all the mx requirements are tach time. And tach does not run as fast as hobbs, Usually about and 85% conversion.

    Hopefully that made some sense and helped at least a little! haha if not, then I apologize and feel free to disregard!

    Good luck!

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