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Yes, I'm greatly overstating the costs involved. But reducing the fuel cost from $35/ hour for a Cessna burning 10 gallons/ hour to burning $3-5/ hour worth of

Yes, I'm greatly overstating the costs involved. But reducing the fuel cost from $35/ hour for a Cessna burning 10 gallons/ hour to burning $3-5/ hour worth of electricity would be a pretty big deal.

sokoloff 7y ago
A C172 rents (including fuel) for $155/hr with steam gauges and $175/hr with a glass panel at my local flight school. Way less than half of that is fuel, and no one's getting rich leasing C172s to flight schools. I think you might see rentals come from $155/hr to $125/hr. I doubt you'd see them go under $100/hr, and I'm not sure that's enough of a difference to drive a material increase in student traffic or affordability. Believe me, I wish it would. I started flying almost 25 years ago and it was much nicer when the airports were busy and when trade professionals (plumbers and electricians) could afford to fly. Now, I mostly see doctors and tech people at the airport as new student starts and that's not enough to really sustain vibrant airport businesses.
- zeroc8 7y ago
  Our 172 was 38$/hour wet in 1991, 43$ for the IFR equipped one as well as for the Citabria, 28$ for the 152 and the Tomahawk. Times have changed.
- jillesvangurp 7y ago
  Operational cost for a cessna also includes maintenance, engine overhauls & inspections (and lets face it repairs), oil changes, etc. This adds up to about almost twice the fuel cost. That's why people talk about the 100$ hamburger. Because if you add it all up that's what you are spending per hour roughly. With electric, you fly way cheaper than that because the components are cheaper, more durable, and way fewer in number and there is just a lot less that goes wrong with these planes. That and the fact that electricity is dirt cheap. This ultra light sounds like a pretty cheap thing to fly.
- ogre_codes 7y ago
  Last time I rented I was renting a Cessna Wet at about $85/ hour as part of a club. Fuel costs were about half of that. Engine overhauls every X,XXX hours was another, but I'm not sure if you need an engine overhaul on an electric plane. How does battery replacement stack up against fuel tank replacement/ leaks? This is all up in the air, but based on the difference in ICE car maintenance versus electric, I'm pretty optimistic that there will be more savings than just the actual fuel costs. But even you ignore other potential savings, just fuel savings alone drops prices by 35% using your numbers which is a pretty big savings.

Yes, I'm greatly overstating the costs involved. But reducing the fuel cost from $35/ hour for a Cessna burning 10 gallons/ hour to burning $3-5/ hour worth of electricity would be a pretty big deal.

sokoloff 7y ago

A C172 rents (including fuel) for $155/hr with steam gauges and $175/hr with a glass panel at my local flight school. Way less than half of that is fuel, and no one's getting rich leasing C172s to flight schools. I think you might see rentals come from $155/hr to $125/hr. I doubt you'd see them go under $100/hr, and I'm not sure that's enough of a difference to drive a material increase in student traffic or affordability. Believe me, I wish it would. I started flying almost 25 years ago and it was much nicer when the airports were busy and when trade professionals (plumbers and electricians) could afford to fly. Now, I mostly see doctors and tech people at the airport as new student starts and that's not enough to really sustain vibrant airport businesses.

zeroc8 7y ago
Our 172 was 38$/hour wet in 1991, 43$ for the IFR equipped one as well as for the Citabria, 28$ for the 152 and the Tomahawk. Times have changed.
jillesvangurp 7y ago
Operational cost for a cessna also includes maintenance, engine overhauls & inspections (and lets face it repairs), oil changes, etc. This adds up to about almost twice the fuel cost. That's why people talk about the 100$ hamburger. Because if you add it all up that's what you are spending per hour roughly. With electric, you fly way cheaper than that because the components are cheaper, more durable, and way fewer in number and there is just a lot less that goes wrong with these planes. That and the fact that electricity is dirt cheap. This ultra light sounds like a pretty cheap thing to fly.
ogre_codes 7y ago
Last time I rented I was renting a Cessna Wet at about $85/ hour as part of a club. Fuel costs were about half of that. Engine overhauls every X,XXX hours was another, but I'm not sure if you need an engine overhaul on an electric plane. How does battery replacement stack up against fuel tank replacement/ leaks? This is all up in the air, but based on the difference in ICE car maintenance versus electric, I'm pretty optimistic that there will be more savings than just the actual fuel costs. But even you ignore other potential savings, just fuel savings alone drops prices by 35% using your numbers which is a pretty big savings.