operating cost per hour?

[bubbrubb21]

apologies if this thread has happned in the past (having trouble searching back). What are some common operating costs for the KitFox you own? I;d like to get one that is maxed out for range/speed, or one like Kyle Franklin flew at OshKosh, same options? would love to do more performance stuff down the road..

my mission profile is i'd be living in Southern Brazil and would need to get to points in Uruguay, NE Argentina.. 500miles or so is the longest id have to go one way. Most of the stuff is more like 400mi round trip. Not for STOL or anything, just need to get to remote loactions with grass strips etc. etc. It's all grassland, "Las Pampas" , home of the gaucho

I'd be looking at building some sort of Kit plane (love the kitfox of course) in the next couple years, thank you!

[PapuaPilot]

I think the new Speedster model would be a good choice for type of flying you mentioned. The Speedster specs show a cruise speed of 130 mph with 5 hours of endurance and 27 gallons useable fuel (range = 650 miles). It looks like that would be about 5 GPH. I believe some of the people using the Rotax 912iS engine are claiming fuel burns of 3.5 to 4.0 GPH, which would give you over 6 hours endurance plus a 30 minute reserve (range = 780 miles).

Here is the link to the specs for the Speedster:
http://www.kitfoxaircraft.com/index.php/speedster-specification

As far as operating costs:
Insurance: $1000 to 1500/yr is typical
Hanger: Variable
Maintenance: Zero cost. You can legally do any maintenance in the USA on an EAB aircraft. Not sure about Brazil.
Condition inspections: In the US if you are the builder you are allowed to inspect it too. Zero cost other than the parts and tools. Not sure if regulations in Brazil allow you to inspect it.
Fuel: 3.5 to 6 GPH (depending on the engine type) multiplied by the cost of fuel.
Oil and normal parts: Relatively inexpensive as long as nothing major breaks.

[bubbrubb21]

thanks Phil. Didn't know the maintenance side of things would be 0

[jiott]

Oil and normal parts are quite inexpensive as Phil says:
Oil (Aeroshell Sport plus 4) and Rotax filter about $50 every 50 hours.
Spark plug change about $25 every 200 hours.

[AirFox]

I just returned from a trip to the HSF of over 10 hours while burning 3.4gph I fly a 7SS with fuel injected 912. My average cruise speed was 108 mph at 60% power setting. Doing the math you would have 7.94 hours of flight time and 857 mile range. The SS7 has two 13 gallon tanks and a 1 gallon header for a total of 27 gallons. My plane has the standard SS7 wings and 26" ABW Airstreaks. I have flown my plane 7 hours multiple times between fuel stops.

At 80% power I burn under 4 gph flying 125 mph. This power settings gives 6.75 hours and 843 range for 27 gallons. Obviously no 30 minute reserve in the calcs. It's easy math to figure that out.

The cost of fuel per hour is $4/gal for Mogas around here. That is between $13.60/hour and $16/hour of pure fun.

Scott

[PapuaPilot]

What I mean about zero cost for maintenance is that you would be able to do all of the work yourself. You won't have to pay an A&P or shop rates for repairs and the annual inspection.

Thanks Scott for giving some real numbers to what I wrote before.

With my IO-240 I burn 5.2 GPH at 60% power (LOP) cruising at about 108 mph TAS. That would take me almost 500 miles with a 30 minute reserve. I actually average 6 GPH, with mogas it's a whopping $20/hr. ;)

[bubbrubb21]

awesome, those were all numbers i was hoping to hear, thank u!

AirFox - what is HSF?

[AirFox]

HSF is the High Sierra Fly In. More info at Stoldrag.com
14517

[Southwest]

This is a close estimate of my operating costs. Mx items include replacing the Rotax rubber parts after 5 years, a new ELT as old one was AD'd illegal, etc. Hope this helps.

Fuel $ / gal 3.00
Hrs flown / yr 55

Fuel $/ hr 15.0
-- oil & fltr 1.22
-- plugs 0.32
Mx items 24.59 ( 2013 - 2017 avg)
Eng reserve 11.11
Prop reserve 1.50
Ins 9.09

$ / HR 62.83

$ / YR 3,456

[GMKman]

What I mean about zero cost for maintenance is that you would be able to do all of the work yourself. You won't have to pay an A&P or shop rates for repairs and the annual inspection.

Thanks Scott for giving some real numbers to what I wrote before.

With my IO-240 I burn 5.2 GPH at 60% power (LOP) cruising at about 108 mph TAS. That would take me almost 500 miles with a 30 minute reserve. I actually average 6 GPH, with mogas it's a whopping $20/hr. ;)

Mogas with a IO-240? Didn't know you could run mogas with the higher compression Continentals.

[PapuaPilot]

The engine runs great on Mogas, I don't notice any difference from 100LL. I don't consider this engine a high compression, it is 8.5:1, which is the same as the newer O-200D.

I got an unofficial thumbs up from a person who worked at Continental for using Mogas in the IO-240.

FYI I just did a 3.5 hour X/C flight today and averaged 5.6 GPH counting only the flight time. If I count the taxi time too (chock to chock), it was 5.0 GPH.

[GMKman]

The engine runs great on Mogas, I don't notice any difference from 100LL. I don't consider this engine a high compression, it is 8.5:1, which is the same as the newer O-200D.

I got an unofficial thumbs up from a person who worked at Continental for using Mogas in the IO-240.

FYI I just did a 3.5 hour X/C flight today and averaged 5.6 GPH counting only the flight time. If I count the taxi time too (chock to chock), it was 5.0 GPH.

Sweet!!
That’s good to know! Definitely lowers the cost per hour running mogas vs. 100LL. Thanks for the info.

[Slyfox]

I have the 912uls in my fox. I run mogas with 10% ethanol. in the build just make sure you have good tanks, which you should now, there is no 90 degree bends in the hoses. have a filter that is clear so you can keep an eye on debree in the filter. make that filter easy to change, I have it on the other side of a ball valve. less then a minute and I can change it. oh it's a simple paper filter. I have extras in the hangar for when I see anything in it. oh this fuel will have a better chance of stuff in it. that's why. now the real nice thing using this fuel. you can go 50 hrs on oil changes. the spark plugs last longer cus it doesn't get that lead crap on them. the rest of the cylinder will look better as well. I have run on 100ll at times and have not found any difference at all other than less money in my pocket. Over 10 years I've put over 1800 hrs on my kitfox alone. take care

[bubbrubb21]

I get the impression build time would be maybe 1250hrs? I;m a young guy - no wife, no kids, etc etc. Not an engineer. What are realistic expectations for a build time?

thank you all for your input, I tried going backwards in the forum as well as searching "build time", too many convos to sift through so thought I'd just ask

[Slyfox]

you don't need to be an engineer. mechanical yes. Ha! if you were an engineer you would never get it done. you would redesign it.

[bubbrubb21]

you don't need to be an engineer. mechanical yes. Ha! if you were an engineer you would never get it done. you would redesign it.

I was a political science major so maybe I'd run into a problem, argue both sides, then do nothing :)

[David47]

you don't need to be an engineer. mechanical yes. Ha! if you were an engineer you would never get it done. you would redesign it.

I am an Engineer and yes, I've changed some parts of the design !!

Bit I will get it done .... :D

[Esser]

I get the impression build time would be maybe 1250hrs? I;m a young guy - no wife, no kids, etc etc. Not an engineer. What are realistic expectations for a build time?

thank you all for your input, I tried going backwards in the forum as well as searching "build time", too many convos to sift through so thought I'd just ask

I’m young. I bought my kit when I was 25(2012) and planned to fly it in 2 years. Guys like Scott and Ross have done it in less time than that. I’m looking at a first flight this spring so I over shot my estimate by a tad. But when you are young you would be surprised at how many things pop up and get in the way. I had a whole 1 year period where I didn’t touch the project.

I haven’t kept track of my hours(I didn’t want to know lol) but I would say beween 1500 and 2000 hours. If I were to build another one it would be under 1250 hours

[rosslr]

JOSH,

"But when you are young you would be surprised at how many things pop up and get in the way."

I just want to assure you that when you are older many things still pop up...occassionaly.....!!!

Nearly there - and Ben is nearly there also - you too must be the youngest builders here - a great achievement to juggle careers and a build - looking forward to hearing about that first flight!

cheers

r

[efwd]

more frequently with Viagra.

[Av8r3400]

more frequently with Viagra.

https://i.redd.it/cmw80syvrumz.jpg



If you're old enough to get the viagra joke, you'll get the photo...