DA42 owners cost of operation

[southbysouthwest]

Hi everyone,

Looking at purchasing a new da42-vi for both business use as well as personal.

I was wondering if anyone could share info what to expect for operating cost with this aircraft all in with 200 hours use per year or so. Anyone have a detailed breakdown and willing to share? Also comments on long term resale projections? Unforeseen costs to watch out for as well?

More less need some numbers to start working on justifying the purchase and set up a projected cost structure with my accountant to divide out both the business use and personal over the long term.

Thanks

[CFIDave]

Everyone is going to get a different answer due to different assumptions about your "cost of capital" for new aircraft acquisition, assumed annual depreciation, and tax situation -- not to mention differences in items like hangar cost at your local airport, or whether you're building in hourly engine reserves.

I plugged 200 hours into my spreadsheet and the actual cash outlay to cover operating costs came to only $166/hour. But if you make really conservative estimates of all costs (including depreciation in aircraft value and no tax benefits) assuming 200 hours/year of flying, the cost all-in to fly a new DA42-VI can be as high as $582/hour.

[southbysouthwest]

Thanks CFI dave,

Just wanted to confirm numbers, the diamond sales rep I am working with gave me a basic spread sheet for cost figures all in including local hanger and Ins, his sheets show 120-125 USD per hour on 200 hours in direct operating cost which seems low to me, also on the tax thing that is all going to depend on the regions tax laws, use, etc..... and how you want to look at depreciation. I can figure that out with the accountant.

More than anything I want to get an idea on DA42 future values/opinions, ie purchase price in current year and whats the general opinion of how the planes value has held historically for a 200 hour per year user and what might the overall projection be down the road in the used market, I personally have not been following the market but would like to hear from those that have. The sales rep I am working with really did not want to get to critical on future value only saying it has been "pretty good" and I don"t blame him for the generic answer that can come back haunt him given that a lot can and has happened between past present and future, but there is nothing wrong with speculating on here.

[Colin]

I can vouch that Lifestyle Aviation, and Dave in particular, really know their Diamonds. That's how I acquired my plane. I will know better after two years, but I think my direct operating costs might be really close to my DA40. The parking is no more expensive. My insurance is actually pretty close to the same. The fuel is so much less expensive I am surprised *every* time. Without the gearbox my last annual would have been the same order of magnitude as the last annual on the DA40.

They are great planes.

[carym]

I flew my DA42 for about 900 hours in 9 years. Without adding in the cost of depreciation on airframe, the costs for me came to about $300/hour. If you want more details, I can supply it. But, realistically anyone flying a plane for personal use will not likely fly more than 100 hours/year, so take that into consideration when analyzing your expected costs.

[ultraturtle]

My monthly non-capital costs:

Fixed:
T-Hangar $550
Insurance ($5,600/12) $467
Annual ($3,375/12) $281
ECU Batteries ($200/12) $17
Pitot Static ($380/24) $16
Garmin Nav Data ($299/12) $25
XM Weather ($200/6) $33

Monthly Total $1,389

Hourly:
100 Hour Kit ($400/100) $4
Oil change ([14L x $12]/100) $2
Gearbox Oil ($1,100/300) $4
High Pressure Fuel Pumps ($6,800/600) $11
Engine Reserve ($51,000/1800) $28
Fuel (13.2 gph x $3.30) $44

Hourly Total $93

So (assuming no tire or brake wear, no discrepancies noted on the annual, no oxygen or TKS fluid consumption), monthly costs to fly 200 hrs/yr could be as low as $2,939 assuming the aircraft is paid for in full.

Insurance quote is for a fully loaded year and a half old dash 6. You'll save a couple thousand a year flying a low $300k Thielert bird.

[guest]

These are tach hours, right? It seems that flight schools get a profit by charging by the hobbs hours at $350-$400/hr.

[Colin]

Sssshhhhhhh. Geez.

My plane has a Hobbs installed. The instant I flip on the Master the mechanical clicking starts. My flight hours per year are SO much lower than when I logged all my DA40 time, which was by the Hobbs. But my DA42 time is more honest. And I hate the clicking. I'll probably asked what it would cost to yank it.

[carym]

My monthly non-capital costs:


Monthly Total $1,389

Hourly:
100 Hour Kit ($400/100) $4
Oil change ([14L x $12]/100) $2
Gearbox Oil ($1,100/300) $4
High Pressure Fuel Pumps ($6,800/600) $11
Engine Reserve ($51,000/1800) $28
Fuel (13.2 gph x $3.30) $44

Hourly Total $93

Are you saying that your engine TBO will only cost you $25.5 K ? I suspect you will be in for a bit of a surprise. I also noted that you didn't add the cost of prop overhaul to your hourly, this has to be done every 6 years (see my previous comments about this being mandatory rather than "on condition"). In addition, at least with the Thielert engines you have to add in the cost of replacing the gear boxes and clutches at 600 hours.

[CFIDave]

Colin:
FYI: DA42s assembled in Austria don't even come with a Hobbs -- it's sort of a North American thing.

Legally with the FAA, you can log time from when the plane starts moving from its parking space until it stops moving at its destination parking space. Unless you sit going nowhere for a long time after engine start, a Hobbs meter running when the electric Master is ON shouldn't indicate too much more than what's legal to log. In contrast "tach time" (e.g., TOTAL TIME IN SERVICE on the G1000 MFD) counts only time in the air, either triggered by the "weight on wheels" switch on DA42 gear, or by airspeed on DA40s.