The R44 and BELL 47, which are often used in helicopter aerial applications in Indiana, are compact aircraft that easily transport large quantities of spray, reducing fuel costs. These are just the things I’m remembering off the top of my head. One AD was to add a containment ring on the turbine in case it explode and dammage the second turbine. I’d say the real cost is pretty close to what I reported. I guess that’s why I wrote this. Last spring, I flew from Salt Lake City to Seattle with another pilot who was building time, waiting for a CFI job to open up at his flight school. Fly safe! On the other hand I have very rarely had a commercial mission cancelled due to a tech fault in my 3000hrs in the Robbie. Spraying Our helicopters come equipped with DGPS for accurate application and these line files can be provided for you upon request. Robinson is privately owned and self-insured. It began breaking teeth off the ring gear. Unfortunately your last three paragraphs poison those that precede it: “But hey, why believe me? Helicopter pilot training costs $200 per hour for flight time with an instructor, and $150 to $175 per hour for solo-flying time. The auxiliary fuel pump went after about 500 hours. They don’t suffer the punishment that heli’s do, so the parts last longer, and catastrophic failure is much less likely due to the non-articulated rotors, and fact that they auto-rotate. The muffler cost another $2,200 this year. Time to make money. Helicopter Charter & Rental Service Aircraft-Charter, Rental & Leasing Airlines. It costs about $1,500 each time. Regarding your comments on capitalization, punctuation and spelling, I agree, although I am not perfect myself. I understand the issue regarding the tools needed. Reason is that the detailed cost here is all cos. Reason is that this is the total cost divided to revenue hours. There is no reason this should work out the way it did; it just did. So, after 6 years of operations, I’m seeing an average hourly cost of $300 per hour — not Robinson’s rosy $185. Do you think the Enstrom has more experience in manufacturing Helicopters? Agricultural crop spraying Helicopters offer many advantages for modern green farming; Spraying nozzles can be changed depending of the plant and crop application type, efficiently saving time, money and manpower; Average person can crop spray 0.24 acres every half hour; Align E1 can crop spray up to 0.48 acres per minute In other words, I don’t live beyond my means. Gas is less than 1/3 of my total cost of operation. Robinson’s insurance costs are based on Pathfinder rates. Next up was a tail rotor gearbox rebuild at $4k. This is where honesty begins to come into the equation, being honest with one’s self. ;). As for ADs and SBs being a cash cow — well, I agree within limits. I have been curious about this topic and this happens to be the first article I found. I am jealous as being able to afford any aircraft is not in my reach have fun flying though. The annual premium in the current estimated operating costs — around $11,000 — aren’t too far off from what I paid when I insured with them for my commercial operation. And then again another 500 hours later. Can you do that? The following year, it was still leaking and now overheating. Do you honestly think I care? Spraying. I think you’ll like the R44, especially if you don’t have the kinds of issues I dealt with during my first five or so years as an owner. Four years later, on January 8, 2005, I’d traded it in for a brand-spanking-new, designed to my specifications, 2005 Robinson R44 Raven II. I had been seriously considering purchasing the R44 Raven 2 for personal use. I thought the numbers looked over rosy, but in the end, decided it was beyond my means. Unfortunately, however, Robinson prorates this fixed annual amount over 500 hours of flight time per year. I could not pay myself pilot’s pay (25%) after collecting the season’s revenues and paying the bills. Divide that by the 1100 hours I flew during that period and you get $200 per hour. :-). A rule of thumb could be 20%. I charged $48.00 an hour for a Hughes 269A that sold for $22,500.00. I asked for his notes, as this is one of my favorite things to ponder. 20.00 11. Adding another aircraft to the calculation would not double your expenses, some can be shared, and your overall hourly cost would be reduced. Here’s an example. Silly there is no second turbine on the Bell 206 B3 but because its a RR250 C20B I had to comply with (56 000) then the compressor and all the calendar time items. I am now retired, and thinking of buying a R44 that is timed out, and doing the field overhaul, not the 12 year inspection. The last time, it lasted less than 8 months and 100 hours. And we can’t really expect the manufacturer to foot the bill for a change required by the FAA. So his numbers were very low and I knew it. If you plan to keep it beyond overhaul, do set aside that money every hour; you’ll be glad you did. We pride ourselves in providing a number one aerial spraying service to our rural clients. Glad I could help, but a boat is no substitute for a helicopter. The pilot made almost $20,000 more without the financial risks. Hey now. There’s no proof that this retrofit would prevent a fire anyway. like fuel system, atv, sling load eq, gps, icoms, helmets etc. During the summer season, these helicopters spray over 6,000 hectares of sugar cane and grazing country as well as applying fertiliser and seeding. An example is, Bell have just come out with one that requires owners/operators to change the old style two piece vertical fin attachment with a new cast one piece attachment. Water in the fuel tank, seat belt buckle attachment points cracking, stuck throttle link, cracked fuel lines, chaffed wiring. I have no idea what the going price is for a timed-out R44. Sorry, but I don’t offer helicopter consultation services. For example why change the fuel control to avoid that water in the fuel problem? This helicopter has very low total time (just over 2000hr) and only 100hr since major overhaul in … Is this your attempt at humor? Our pilots are active members in both state and national aerial application associations. US $7598-$9298 / Unit. Granted, Robinson’s figures are rosy – but so is the MPG sticker on your car. The costs never really stop coming, but if you have deep pockets or can make money with it, it’s worth owning one. Station Paper NE-101. Do you really need to buy that ground spraying rig? 2.0 Units (Min. I suppose the magneto overhaul is included in Robinson’s calculations. Add hangar, other equipment, training, etc. Ag-aircraft are high use and abuse equipment, making it difficult for them to retain value. I’ve had repairs done to my primary radio and GPS. This is an incredible service to so many around the world who have the same questions I have had. I’m just lucky that my ship will be going in for overhaul before the blade replacement AD must be complied with. Robinson’s estimated fuel and oil costs were consistently lower than what I was paying. I’m a recent owner of a R44 II and have already seen that the truth is not as rosy as Robinson, or any other involved company, states. But thanks for the suggestions. That’s like requiring older car owners to add airbags and ABS brakes just to reduce the liability of the automakers. Aerial application chemicals can be mixed and loaded directly on the nurse/platform trucks that transport helicopters, saving time and transportation costs. … Yamaha unmanned helicopters are designed for a wide range of industrial applications and have been operating commercially since 1991. I’ve discussed this at some length with two other owners and here’s what we think. Are you still flying your R44? Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Big drop, little drop and drift mitigation adjuvants, Operation S.A.F.E. were is it going to stop???? Wow, Mike. When I got a different mechanic, my costs came down considerably. He could fly along on one of your you tube flights. Too many of us are “programmed” at a young age to seek careers that pay good money and then get sucked into jobs we hate. All that from an article. The kit for the retrofit will cost about $6,000 and there’s 40 hours of labor on top of that plus the cost to repaint the fuel tanks. It does put focus on the notion of doing what you really love and not worrying about income. This allows the spray boom to do spot as well as field spraying. Sure, it’s cheaper to own an R44 than an EC130, but it’s even cheaper to own a Honda Accord. Another $100 a tach hour, driving the gross to $1,500 an hour? Realistically, its more like 15-17 gallons per hour. First, thanks for the kind words. I owned an R22 for a few years and experienced similar price shocks. I spent almost $12K to replace my helicopter’s fuel tanks. For the sake of simple math, let’s round that up to $1,400 per hour (every tach hour) with a 500-hour season. I enjoyed your story…Some ideas to make your business more profitable… But with that said, I don’t see any reason why the manufacturer needs to profit from these required changes. that would perform 80% of your missions and still allow you to enjoy flying. I’m not giving up. And then there are the Airworthiness Directives, Service Bulletins, and Service Letters. I was making a lot of money as a writer back then. I just simply love them. Do the math. We also have additional eq. Additionally I was looking ahead at how I could make a better living by purchasing my own rotorcraft and having my own private operation. Have a lot of extra money to use so I felt like buying a small,,,possibly used Helicopter…..after reading the articles and every ones comments….I think I’ll just buy an office building and then jump out of it…….it’s cheaper I am trying to compare operating costs of fixed wing versus rotary. Please read the directions on the first tab completely before using the spreadsheet. The overhaul was $3,000 plus installation (which requires removal of the tail cone). The clutch down limit switch, an $8 part, cracked. Of course, anyone can tear holes into the above numbers. And how do you think my passengers would feel if their pilot showed up wearing a pickle suit and helmet for their tour or charter flight? I think that they’re nuts about limiting their liability. I’m in the UK – if you send me your e-mail – if you’re allowed to on this site – I’ll send you some pictures of my open cock-pit gyro-plane – it is such fun to be out in the elements – to look over the side, and see straight down – field of view is incredible – not all round, but about 270 degrees horizontal, and 330 in a vertical circle. Or was — that post was pretty old. Now he retaired and looking for the R44 with a few flying hours left. I live in the desert and my helicopter is hangared. Would love to hear your expert opinion on this https://www.dawn.com/news/1429640. Thanks Maria, Just ordered my R44 for 2018 and appreciate your detailed list of costs. Being the pilot and any combination of manager and owner, you expose yourself tremendously, as the entire operation is dependant upon your good health. 50.00 5. There are a lot of assumptions with these calculations. Not likely. I have been a helicopter pilot for 42 years and an owner/operator for 15 years. The upper bearing began leaking brown fluid at about 850 hours. No one will have “accurate” costs. Of course, anyone can tear holes into the above numbers. You truly are a great writer. I’ve now replaced mine THREE times in 1100 hours. Thank you Maria for this very “matter of fact” article. Treating 200 acres an hour at $7.00 an acre, works out to $1,400 which would give the owner/operator a $262 an hour profit (18.7%). It has been going a long time. I owned it for over 13 years and after the overhaul in 2017, it ran like a charm with very little extra maintenance. According to him, JD had presented certain facts to his audience that shined an impending light upon true operating costs. Fueling my opinion on this matter was a document published by Robinson Helicopter Company on its Web site. There are currently 135 New or Pre-Owned Helicopters for sale on Globalair.com. And I’d much rather get my ATP than A&P. Although my income fluctuates wildly — especially these days — I could foresee the ability to own and operate an R44 into the future, especially with added income from a small Part 135 on-demand charter operation. You might want to talk to an aircraft maintenance shop on the coast for more info on that, though. I now fly Bell 206B3 and L3 helicopters and I agree with all your comments. But hey, why believe me? Here Carlos in Chicago They’re making us pay to reduce their liability to us. ), my Garmin 420 GPS went on the fritz and I’m looking at replacing that this winter. 5.0 (2) "Good work" Contact Supplier. Comp., operations, etc.) Excellent writing. What a fantastic article, from a first time helicopter purchaser – well, maybe now………..!!! Lookout heliport, that picture may stur up the anti Photoshop gang … We operate two Truck helipads with 10,000L capability and the ability to carry 4x 1000L chemical shuttles. Now I need to find your little ‘donate’ button. There has to be a cushion to allow for hidden costs (advertising, work clothes, legal/accounting fees, etc.). Fortunately, I run a small operation with a tight rein on costs. Any thoughts on overhauling would be greatly appreciated. The pump costs $1,600 new and $800 overhauled. Cheaper aircraft than an R44 for 3 pax seats? 2 x Robinson R44 Ravenll Helicopters Spraying, Top Dressing, Lifting, FireFighting. But, they should point out the apparent need for each operator to come up with his own true costs with a margin of error. S interested in becoming a helicopter bank if you spend $ 1000 to $ getting! Pay to reduce their liability R44 several years back ( in the end decided! That huge expense, it ran like a pretty good deal to me,.. Into consideration all of your missions and still allow you to enjoy flying ) 50.00, total =... Yrs YUREN Uav ( Zhuhai ) Co., Ltd. Stress-free, cost effective means of weed control this from! 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