CMP.WERNER@UTEXAS-20.ARPA (11/30/83)
From: Werner Uhrig <CMP.WERNER@UTEXAS-20.ARPA>
I thought you might be curious how we run ours.
We have chartered as a non-profit organization under the Texas State Law with
20 stock-holders. We have a VFR Cessna 152 of '78 and an IFR Piper Warrior of
'76 vintage. We run it to "just break even" charging ourselves $18 fixed
cost per month and hourly rental rates of $17 (Cessna) and $28 (Piper) wet.
We have an insurance contract which has no restriction against student pilots
running about $135 /member and year. We have managed to cover all expenses
for insurance and maintenance out of the monthly and hourly costs flying each
plane about 350 hours a year. By the way, the insurance would be more
expensive if we had more than 10 members per plane owned. We have no daily
minimums, each member has plane keys, and scheduling is done through the
secretary of one during office hours or member's home otherwise. We have
our book-keeping done by the wife of one member, and we have a monthly
news-letter generated on an IBM PC. We have one maintenance officer per
plane, who is supposed to keep an eye on things and takes care of reported
problems.
Members are mainly computer people of the hardware and software flavors,
a doctor, a house-wife, an accountant, a lawyer, an airline pilot,
a recent commercial-instructor rated pilot, etc.
Our initial investment per share (plane purchase and first year insurance)
was about $1800 and we have been going for nearly 3 years of happy
no-hassles flying, with the usual amount of repairs of avionics and engines,
some say too much and too expensive, and I sure agree. But overall, I
wonder if this does not seem like "the last pilot-paradise" to you, or if
anyone can report similar happy and economic flying arrangements.
UUCP: ut-ngp!werner
via {decvax!eagle, ucbvax!nbires, gatech!allegra!eagle, ihnp4, kpno!ut-sally}
or ihnp4!kpno!utastro!werner )
ARPA: werner@ (utexas or utexas-20 or ut-ngp)
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