Renting feels cheap until you add up the hours. Buying feels smart until you add up the bills. This calculator settles the argument with actual numbers—the real cost of owning a plane, including the fixed costs that show up whether you fly or not and the reserves most people forget.
Start in Basic: pick your aircraft, set your hours, and we'll fill in sensible defaults you can see at a glance. Want to get precise? Switch to Advanced and walk through every cost—financing, overhaul reserves, insurance, the lot—until the break-even point reflects your real situation.
The essentials
Three answers and we'll estimate the rest.
What a comparable rental costs per hour.
Then drag the hours slider below to see where you land.
What we're assuming
Typical numbers for a Cessna 172. Switch to Advanced to change any of them.
- Acquisition price
- $95,000
- Down payment
- $19,000 · 10yr @ 8%
- Monthly loan payment
- $0
- Fuel
- 8.5 GPH @ $7/gal
- Engine overhaul
- $48,000
- Hangar / tie-down
- $350/mo
- Insurance
- $150/mo
- Annual inspection
- $130/mo
- Maintenance reserve
- $15/hr
- Engine reserve
- $24/hr
Figures are ballpark starting points—adjust them to your situation.
Your result
Break-even at 60 hours/year—renting is cheaper at your usage.
Rent a plane
best option- Hourly rate
- $225/hr × 50 hrs
Buy a plane
- Variable costs
- $100/hr × 50 hrs
- Fixed costs
- $7,560/year
Download your ownership analysis
BetaGrab a PDF report tailored to your inputs, with the rent-vs-buy chart and a full cost breakdown. It's still in beta, so expect a few rough edges.