A service bulletin that became an airworthiness directive required inspection and then repainting (or replacement) of the main rotor blades. I think that they’re nuts about limiting their liability. 2019-herbicide-and-insecticide-cost-per-acre-spreadsheet . My friend likes R44 and he is a helicopter guy, but never own it. Cost such as insurance and date life parts are based on yearly flight times that are almost always in the realm of number of hours flown by a larger operator. They’re attempting to minimize the possibility of a post crash fire by making modifications to the fuel system to help prevent line and tank ruptures. I do not own one, have never owned one, and quite frankly, will NEVER be able to afford one. Best wishes! (Ground spraying rigs you have to drive or tow there. Yet the Robinson document is never seriously questioned by anyone. The numbers he came up with — including his estimated dry lease payment — were about equal to my actual costs per hour. The RMAX is a helicopter design UAV for precision agriculture spraying with price estimates from $80-$120,000, however, according to the company website “Yamaha will offer a service to interested growers; however, in the future we also plan to offer a lease option to growers/businesses that have the proper licenses and qualifications. Engine maintenance (PT6A-34AG/H80) 65.00 4. Thank you again for your openness. And then again another 500 hours later. You might want to talk to an aircraft maintenance shop on the coast for more info on that, though. “Affordable” is a relative term. My pockets are not as deep as they once were. Countryview Farms Helicopter Air Services is entering into another season of operations specializing in custom aerial spray applications. Gyr. $130K seems like a pretty good deal to me, though. Compared to a fixed wing aircraft the helicopter offers a much lower application speed and higher downwash from the rotor blades, this means an overall better result for the farmer. For the sake of simple math, let’s round that up to $1,400 per hour (every tach hour) with a 500-hour season. And, the list goes on. And then there are the Airworthiness Directives, Service Bulletins, and Service Letters. With a utilization of about 150 hours per year, a 44 is rent about 600 euros per hour and that makes some profit. As you can see all this comes to much more than the av. He won’t find an R44 in flyable condition for $20,000. Of course, that calculation doesn’t include my other costs to operate a business: advertising, supplies, travel, hangar rent, automobiles, taxes, fees, etc., etc. What else? One bad way to look at it is this: If I don’t get it changed per the SB and my passengers die in a post-crash fire, the liability for the fire falls on me, even if they can’t prove that the fire was caused by a tank design issue. Add hangar, other equipment, training, etc. All that from an article. One day I will be at the right place at the right time. I’ve watched lots of videos of helicopters spraying and it seems really cool. Moreover, some employers even choose to enlist the services such as those of cloudpay.net to help with the whole process. Last spring, I flew from Salt Lake City to Seattle with another pilot who was building time, waiting for a CFI job to open up at his flight school. Hello Maria, Nice to ready your valuable comments. Since writing this post, I’ve had several major life changes and finally found a nice doing contract work with my R44 that covers all my costs and helps me live the kind of lifestyle I like: simple and mostly stress-free. It's for a research project and I can't find any rates/average costs online, so any solid information would be helpful! I owned an R22 for a few years and experienced similar price shocks. Do you believe it is a function of fuel used and engine time only? The muffler cost another $2,200 this year. I was there and I know what it’s like. I understand the issue regarding the tools needed. I nearly bought an R44 several years back (in the UK) and was intending to do some leasing etc. ;). New Y20pro agricultural pesticide sprayer drone helicopter electric sprayer. To start, let’s assume we are discussing a single, turbine aircraft operation flying 500 hours a year. He had some specific ideas (which I won’t share here) that might or might not generate revenue. Silly there is no second turbine on the Bell 206 B3 but because its a RR250 C20B I had to comply with (56 000) then the compressor and all the calendar time items. 5.0 (2) "Good work" Contact Supplier. I am not a pilot just a former wannabe but I still enjoyed reading the comments on this thread. Brilliant Maria. So, I’ll take the simplest example possible and work from there. Unortunately this time will come much faster than expected. Surely you need money in the bank if you want to cover the surprisingly appearing new costs. I never thought it would be “cheap,” but I thought it would be close to the Robinson estimates. In some cases, consistently spraying 200 acres an hour can be a challenge with a 500-gallon aircraft. Airframe maintenance (includes prop, GPS, radios, etc.) According to him, JD had presented certain facts to his audience that shined an impending light upon true operating costs. Here Carlos in Chicago The R44 and BELL 47, which are often used in helicopter aerial applications in Indiana, are compact aircraft that easily transport large quantities of spray, reducing fuel costs. Divide that by the 1100 hours I flew during that period and you get $200 per hour. Spam-free; unsubscribe anytime. Indeed, I think they should subsidize them by making parts available below cost to owners for a limited time. These are just the things I’m remembering off the top of my head. Invariably, as your gross increases, so will your hidden costs, the reason for a percentage factor. Not fun to be an owner if you can’t afford to fly. Liability is a huge concern here in the U.S. I’m curious to know why your operating costs are so much higher than mine. What really kills me, though, is the number of people who think they’re doing me a favor by offering to pay for gas in exchange for a ride. Best regards What do you think about the Enstrom 280FX or 480B or the Schweitzer 333, I know the last 2 are turbine. Do the math. 16 years were as an agricultural spray pilot. First, thanks for the kind words. I had been seriously considering purchasing the R44 Raven 2 for personal use. The lack of this cushion has been the downfall of many businesses. It doesn’t include depreciation, either. There used to be a magical rule of thumb (that should not work out by any reasoning) that an operation should gross the value of the aircraft, $1,400 X 500 = $700,000. That blog post has been on my site for seven years and today you’ve decided to come online and be the first person to criticize my writing style? There’s no proof that this retrofit would prevent a fire anyway. Unfortunately, I have a lot of competition in the area flying similar equipment and have to limit pricing to stay competitive. I have been into drones now for about 4 yrs, and the way things are moving in that world it won’t be long till they will carry a person. And I’d probably be hooked. Plus, everyone knows that an ag-plane is not productive 100% of the hours logged in a season. This is where honesty begins to come into the equation, being honest with one’s self. There are too many parameters for calculating operating costs to cover in this article. If you use a smaller aircraft, for instance a piston-powered aircraft without the ability to gross $1,500 an hour, you really find yourself in a dilemma. I have been a helicopter pilot for 42 years and an owner/operator for 15 years. We operate two Truck helipads with 10,000L capability and the ability to carry 4x 1000L chemical shuttles. And how do you think my passengers would feel if their pilot showed up wearing a pickle suit and helmet for their tour or charter flight? But, so does the “break-even factor”, where you have to get past a certain point in your gross to make a profit. Posted by Bill Lavender | Apr 3, 2017 | Editorials | 0. Your blog has given me great pause and it has forced me to be far more realistic about what I can expect as far as a career change and subsequent life. ), my Garmin 420 GPS went on the fritz and I’m looking at replacing that this winter. No one will have “accurate” costs. This will share the burden of the retrofit’s cost. 2 x Robinson R44 Ravenll Helicopters Spraying, Top Dressing, Lifting, FireFighting. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. cost I mentioned above. For example why change the fuel control to avoid that water in the fuel problem? I’m not giving up. Of course, anyone can tear holes into the above numbers. He could fly along on one of your you tube flights. After all if you are happy doing what you love that is what matters. The conclusion at the end of the “Operating Cost-Per-Road Mile” section stated that the calculated 98¢ per road mile “…compares favorably with some expensive automobiles, and will usually be lower when the value of time saved is considered.”. And 14 gallons per hour? I currently farm in southern idaho, and have always thought of ways that I could implement a helicopter in our operation. Thanks again for the great blog posts… I just found your site thru a link…. It is for these reasons that most workplaces nowadays use payroll software to take care of these responsibilities. The clutch down limit switch, an $8 part, cracked. I have been maintaining Robinsons in Greece for more than 5 years. A handful of bestselling computer how-to books — yes, they do exist — and a few good real estate investments left me with an excess of cash. US $3600-$4900 / Set. I agree 100%. ... Looks a much more suited helicopter to the job, larger tanks, more fuel. It also doesn’t include the $2,100 per month I pay on my aircraft loan or my initial $160,000 cash downpayment. I spent almost $12K to replace my helicopter’s fuel tanks. In a discussion many years ago with JD Dunson of Airforce Turbine Service in Texas (now retired), the topic of operating costs came up. It costs about $1,500 each time. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Big drop, little drop and drift mitigation adjuvants, Operation S.A.F.E. Do you think helicopter manufacturer affects op costs significantly? Additionally I was looking ahead at how I could make a better living by purchasing my own rotorcraft and having my own private operation. 5 Sets (Min. If you budget $3k – $4k per year, you’ll be prepared; if you don’t spend it this year, you’ll spend it next year PLUS that year’s budget. Preciso de mais informações sobre o seguro do R22 você pode me ajudar ? Applying chemicals or fertilizer is an expensive exercise and has to be cost … Manned aircraft you have to fly to the location). Now, the serpent raises its head. History The first known application of spraying agricultural materials from the air occurred in 1906 when John Chaytor spread seed over a swamped valley floor in New Zealand from a… But it’s very interesting to get your perspective as someone who didn’t necessarily set out to make a living with one of these aircraft. We teach and learn by sharing what we know with others. This helicopter has very low total time (just over 2000hr) and only 100hr since major overhaul in … US $7598-$9298 / Unit. Howden Helicopters were still spraying in the UK as late as 1993 with Bell 47's. I was lucky that the factory applied the overhaul cost to the price of a new one: $9,000. I suppose the magneto overhaul is included in Robinson’s calculations. I am 67 years old and I feel that the root cause of a lot of the problems are the younger generation have become used to texting, and developed these traits as a result, in my opinion, due to using a number pad to text . Company in Lincolnshire who were also spaying with a “ safer ” option, they to... I have been a helicopter to much more suited helicopter to the affordable! Estimates they can find — if they provide cost information at all cancelled due to corrosion were bracken with. I asked for his notes, as your gross increases, so will your hidden costs (,... 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