Rex says
Money math without the spreadsheet headache. Plug in your numbers and I'll show you exactly where the dollars land.
Try a scenario
Click to load — tweak from there.Inputs
Hangar/tie-down, insurance, annual inspection, loan, registration
Result
All-in cost per hour
$239.00
Fixed cost per hour
$140.00
Variable cost per hour
$99.00
Fuel cost per hour
$62.00
Total annual cost
$23,900
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One click, a permanent link with your numbers baked in.
How to use this
- 1Enter annual fixed costs ($) — Hangar/tie-down, insurance, annual inspection, loan, registration.
- 2Enter hours flown per year.
- 3Enter fuel burn (gal/hr).
- 4Enter fuel price ($/gal).
- 5Enter engine/prop overhaul reserve ($/hr).
- 6Enter routine maintenance reserve ($/hr).
- 7Read your all-in cost per hour on the right — it updates as you type.
- 8Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone.
About this calculator
Owners chronically underestimate cost per hour because they only track fuel and oil. The real number blends fixed costs you pay whether you fly or not (tie-down/hangar, insurance, annual inspection, loan payment, state registration) with variable costs that scale with usage (fuel, oil, engine and prop reserves, routine maintenance). This calculator spreads fixed costs across your expected annual hours and adds variable cost per hour to give a defensible all-in number, the one you should compare against renting or chartering before assuming ownership is cheaper.
Worked example
Using the values the calculator loads with:
Inputs
- Annual fixed costs: 14000 $
- Hours flown per year: 100
- Fuel burn: 10 gal/hr
- Fuel price: 6.2 $/gal
- Engine/prop overhaul reserve: 22 $/hr
- Routine maintenance reserve: 15 $/hr
Results
- All-in cost per hour: $239.00
- Fixed cost per hour: $140.00
- Variable cost per hour: $99.00
- Fuel cost per hour: $62.00
- Total annual cost: $23,900
What each field means
Inputs
- Annual fixed costs ($)
- Hangar/tie-down, insurance, annual inspection, loan, registration
- Hours flown per year
- The hours flown per year used in the calculation. Starts at 100 so you have a working example on load.
- Fuel burn (gal/hr)
- The fuel burn used in the calculation, measured in gal/hr. Starts at 10 gal/hr so you have a working example on load.
- Fuel price ($/gal)
- The fuel price used in the calculation, measured in $/gal. Starts at 6.2 $/gal so you have a working example on load.
- Engine/prop overhaul reserve ($/hr)
- The engine/prop overhaul reserve used in the calculation, measured in $/hr. Starts at 22 $/hr so you have a working example on load.
- Routine maintenance reserve ($/hr)
- The routine maintenance reserve used in the calculation, measured in $/hr. Starts at 15 $/hr so you have a working example on load.
Results
- All-in cost per hour
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars and shown as the headline result. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Fixed cost per hour
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Variable cost per hour
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Fuel cost per hour
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
- Total annual cost
- Returned as a money amount in US dollars. It recalculates instantly whenever you change an input, so you can compare scenarios without reloading.
FAQ
Why does hours flown per year matter so much?
Fixed costs don't change whether you fly 50 or 200 hours, so spreading a $14,000 fixed bill over 50 hours adds $280/hr while 200 hours adds only $70/hr. This is why low-utilization owners often find renting cheaper and why partnerships exist — more hours flown per airframe drives fixed cost per hour down fast.
What's a reasonable engine reserve number?
For a typical Lycoming or Continental four-cylinder with a $25,000–$35,000 overhaul at 2,000 hours TBO, that's $12.50–$17.50/hr just for the core. Add prop overhaul reserve and unscheduled top-end work and $20–$25/hr total is a realistic conservative figure for most legacy piston singles.
Should I include the loan payment as fixed or ignore it?
Include it if you're comparing ownership to renting since renting has no debt service. If you're comparing to a cash-purchase scenario or just tracking marginal flying cost, drop the loan payment and use opportunity cost of capital instead — roughly 4-6% of aircraft value annually.
How does this differ from resale value loss?
This calculator ignores depreciation entirely because it's a cash-flow tool, not a total cost of ownership tool. A separate depreciation calculation is needed if you want to capture the value the airplane loses each year on top of operating cash outlays.
Accuracy and limitations
- Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.
- Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.
- This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant.
Related tools
Wet vs Dry Rental Breakeven Calculator
Find the annual hours where wet rental beats dry, or vice versa.
Aircraft Partnership Cost Share Calculator
Split fixed and variable ownership costs fairly across partners.
Engine Reserve Fund Calculator
How much to set aside per flight hour to fund the next overhaul.
Cite this calculator
Writing about this topic? Grab a citation — every link helps keep these tools free.
RevenueLab. (2026). Aircraft Ownership Cost Per Hour Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/aircraft-ownership-cost-per-hour
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/aircraft-ownership-cost-per-hour" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aircraft Ownership Cost Per Hour Calculator — RevenueLab</a> (2026).</p>
Source: [Aircraft Ownership Cost Per Hour Calculator — RevenueLab](https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/aircraft-ownership-cost-per-hour) (2026).