The Real Costs of Aircraft Ownership
No estimates. No averages. The actual numbers, updated as they happen.
What It Cost to Buy
Purchased September 2025 and held in Krosswind Aviation LLC. The sticker price is the part everyone talks about. The tax and the pre-buy are the part they forget.
| Purchase price | $88,620 |
| Cash down | $18,220 |
| Financed — LMCU | $70,400 |
| Florida sales tax (6%) | $5,280 |
| Pre-buy inspection | $1,000 |
| Cash required at closing | $24,500 |
Year One Actuals
Every dollar spent between the first flight on September 20, 2025 and the last on December 20, 2025 — 33.3 hours across 13 flights. These are receipts, not projections.
| Item | Amount | Per hour |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance — annual premium, paid upfront | $9,245.29 | — |
| Gear & equipment | $2,637.62 | $79.21 |
| Flight instruction | $2,009.00 | $60.33 |
| Loan payments — 3 months | $2,080.65 | $62.48 |
| Fuel — 366.6 gal @ $4.75 avg | $1,740.00 | $52.25 |
| LH magneto overhaul | $700.30 | $21.03 |
| Tiedown — 4 months | $297.15 | $8.92 |
| Oil — 6 qt W100 Plus | $77.96 | $2.34 |
| Total | $18,787.97 | $564.20 |
Excludes the purchase price, sales tax, and pre-buy. It also excludes engine and prop reserves, which are not cash out the door yet but absolutely will be.
What the Fuel Really Burns
Eleven fuel purchases across three airports. The IO-520 has a reputation for drinking, and most planning calculators assume $85 an hour. Actual burn over 33.3 hours came in well under that — a mix of short training flights and self-serve pricing.
| Total purchased | 366.6 gallons |
| Average price | $4.75 / gallon |
| Burn rate | 11.0 gallons / hour |
| Fuel cost | $52.25 / hour |
Ongoing Fixed Costs
What the airplane costs every month whether it flies or not. Insurance is an annual premium paid upfront; the monthly figure is the 12-month average.
| Item | Monthly | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance | $770.44 | $9,245.29/yr — AIG / National Union Fire |
| Loan payment | $693.55 | LMCU |
| Covered shelter | $267.32 | Page Field (KFMY) — moved from an $79.88 tiedown in August 2026 |
| LLC annual report | $11.56 | $138.75/yr — Florida SunBiz |
| Total fixed | $1,742.87 | Before a drop of fuel is burned |
That is roughly $20,900 a year to own the airplane before flying it anywhere. It is the single most underestimated number in general aviation.
Insurance Coverage
National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, PA (AIG). September 10, 2025 – September 10, 2026. Renewal quotes for year two will be posted here when they land.
| Liability (per occurrence) | $1,000,000 |
| Passenger Bodily Injury | $100,000 per passenger |
| Medical Expense | $10,000 per passenger |
| Hull (Agreed Value) | $100,000 |
| Annual Premium | $9,245.29 (paid in full at policy start) |
First Annual — In Progress
Every aircraft certified under FAR 91 requires an annual inspection. On a sixty-year-old Bonanza, this is not a formality. I flew N2015W to Wingman Aviation at Arcadia (X06) on March 26, 2026 and left it there. It has not flown since.
Here is the parts list as it stands. Labor is not on it yet. This is what the inspection has turned up so far — published as-is, mid-annual, because the tidy version after the fact is not the useful one.
| Qty | Part | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cylinder overhaul | $2,095.00 |
| 2 | 35-380020-1 ring | $1,376.68 |
| 1 | Whelen OE36R1W LED beacon | $799.75 |
| 1 | S-TEC altitude sensor | $420.00 |
| 1 | ELT battery — MERL BP-1010 | $186.90 |
| 12 | Aeroshell W100 oil, qt | $151.20 |
| 2 | Main gear rebuild kit TBMS-1 | $109.68 |
| 1 | Oil filter CH48110 | $46.05 |
| 1 | Nose gear strut service kit TBNS-2 | $39.60 |
| 1 | Brackett BA-7112 air filter | $23.94 |
| Shipping | $15.42 | |
| Parts total — labor not included | $5,264.22 |
A cylinder came off. The landing gear needed both a nose strut kit and main gear rebuild kits. That is $5,264 in parts alone — about 6% of what the airplane cost to buy — and the labor invoice has not landed yet.
The fixed costs never stopped. Insurance, the loan, parking, and the LLC filing ran roughly $1,555 a month for the four-plus months it sat on the ground — about $6,600 paid on an airplane that could not legally fly. Add the parts and the annual has cost close to $11,900 before a single hour of labor is billed.
That is the part of ownership nobody films. The final invoice goes up here the day it is signed off.
Engine Reserve Planning
The IO-520 has a manufacturer TBO of 1,700 hours. N2015W has 1,267 hours SNEW — meaning roughly 433 hours remain to TBO. Engine overhaul runs $35,000–$50,000 depending on what is found. A responsible reserve is $75–$115 per hour flown, set aside specifically for engine work. This is a real cost that most ownership calculators undercount.
Why the LLC Structure
Aircraft held in an LLC provides liability separation from personal assets, clean accounting for all aviation expenses, and a structure that can support future arrangements or partnerships. Consult an aviation attorney and accountant for your specific situation.
The Year One Actuals table covers September–December 2025 and is reconciled to receipts. The annual parts list is the current invoice from the shop; labor and any remaining 2026 spend are still open and will be added here as they come in.