All Things Financial

[SkyPirate]

Before i got married,.... I would pick up unfinished ultralight kits at a decent price, and finish them, fly them for 10/20 hrs then sell them, did that for a while, got lucky once, bought 3 planes for $500.00 and had 1 sold for $10k before i got it back to the airport, .... Then,... I got married,... We have 4 great kids between the 2 of us, 2 hers 1 mine 1 ours, the youngest, at 8 has got about 15 hrs flying with me, none of the others like flying, so,... I'm getting closer to getting another plane of my own, as long as life doesnt throw another preverbial wrench in the works
I miss my ole kitfox and still kick myself for selling it, but that preverbial wrench ratcheted back and life demanded that I sell everything I owned to finance finding my first daughter, no regrets, she was found, took 4 years to find her and 3 years of court , and I would do it again if need be, she is 18 now and got a good start on life so it's just a matter of time now, the right deal, the right time.... Patiently waiting

[War Eagle]

I belonged to an active EAA chapter that formed a group of people that wanted to build and together we made a group buy which gave us a discounted price for the kits. I worked for a company that allowed you to borrow against your 401k. So I borrowed the funds from the 401k and paid myself the interest and principal over the next few years. Instruments, paint, interior and custom mods were payed for on an ongoing basis from my salary, tax returns and stock sales.

[ken nougaret]

my thoughts have always been: don't eat out too much, don't pay interest(save your money by not living beyond your means), drive your vehicle til it won't safely transport you, do all the possible maintenance you can on any and everything(so you don't pay labor charges), and have an understanding wife! i'm not that smart or make lots of money but I'm thankful to be able to enjoy hobbies I love.
ken

[Dave S]

Hi Kurt,

The question you posed was pretty much a major one in my mind before I decided to build a Kitfox. I am not a rich person either.....Had to think that through. There will always be some unforseen costs but you can know and control most of it.

Some strategies I used to get 'er done.

1) Have your ducks in a row before you buy....have enough saved to pay for what you can & want to as you go. Paying on a loan costs money; however, rates are pretty low right now and some thought into interest rates vs cost increases with time delays is worth considering.

2) Know what you want, what you truly need in the plane and what you can pay for....among other things, that means not going ga-ga over the latest better than sex electronics to populate the acerage on your panel.....unless you really need that type of gear to do what you intend and/or can afford it. I went with second hand flight instruments of the "steam gauge" variety as I pretty much like to look out the window anyway. Keep it as simple as possible....less to break and less to pay for in the first place. A simple comm radio with a flip-flop, garmin Transponder; and, (yes) the 406 ELT since I saw no future in buying into the unmonitored system then doing the 406 later if it became mandatory somehow and paying for both in the long run. Nav?....$625 air/ground/marine GPS that provides far better and far more info than the old VORs on the rental planes. Only use the GPS for backing up the view out the window anyway.

3) Plan and follow through to get the plane built as quickly as your schedule will allow. A completed plane is worth more than parts (usually). To me that meant buying everything I could afford at once (the price always goes up if you wait) and doing something every day even if it was just sorting bolts. Here's the deal......paying construction insurance on a project for 18 years costs more than paying construction insurance for 2-3 years.....although this is entirely a personal choice, I could not afford to lose the kit to a tornado or fire so I did carry construction insurance.

4) Plan to build at your home or very near your home. You will get more done quicker that way which helps address item 3 above. Having to drive to a distant hangar will slow you down on the build and increase the cost of getting it done (drive for an hour a day or build for an hour a day).

5) Use sweat equity everywhere you can to reduce costs and maintain quality....for example I bought a bare frame rather than a powder coated frame because I had sandblasting equipment available anyway...blasted, epoxy primed and aerothaned all the tubing/airframe/etc. Admittedly a sucky job but was cheaper and I did got to thoroughly inspect all welds.

6) While the quick build kit is helpful with time on task, it does cost more than the basic kit. I went with the slow build option.

7) The factory upholstery is really nice; but I spent far less with the help of my wife and her sewing machine. Also sewed up the tail pad for transporting for a very few bucks.

8) When you complete your build...get your repairman's certificate immediately. Then you can be sure of the condition of the plane in your own mind and the condition insp is certainly cheaper. So Far, I have done 4 condition inspections. The most expensive was $28.12....28 for the position light lense I should not have dropped on the floor and 12 cents for a cotter key that needed replacing...


Screw-ups that cost money?

The big one for me was getting gouged by the old skystar/egt company that got my money and went bankrupt so I had to buy an engine, prop, spinner, gear, windshield, fuel tanks, engine ring mount, seat belts and a bunch of other items a second time. Basically know who you are dealing with.....John Mc Bean, the current company owner helped me get through this deal and get the plane done. John and Debra have proven their ethical conduct of their business. Of course, the missing parts threw my finances into a tizzy....having a supportive family including my wife who said.."you're not giving up now" and a son who said "Dad, I know how much this means to you....I'll get a loan for finishing my college degree" made it possible to get the plane done in 3 years. On a sidebar, skystar told me up front they didn't do escrow accounts because they couldn't always get their money from the bank (ostensibly because they didn't deliver the parts!). I believe John & Debra will do an escrow account....that tells you something.

Little screw-ups.....not a lot.....had a spar tube roll off the counter and get dinged so that got replaced. Didn't like how the fabric fit on the elevator where the large and small tubes come together so ripped that off, did some fairing work and redid the fabric. Cut a piece of wire too short and cutting it a second time did not seem to help so I bought a new one. There will be a few little things that need to be done more than once.


Miscellaneous costs

Know your sales tax situation in your state....some charge sales tax on the value of the plane when you go to register it with the state. Here is where a more extravagant/expensive plane will cost you more....plan accordingly.

Ongoing costs

1) Basically hangar and insurance for fixed costs plus a small amount for state and fed registration. That will vary with your location. Insurance is cheaper the less you have in the plane.....100,000 hull insurance costs more than 30,000 to 60,000 depending on where you end up. Hangar prices vary...if you are lucky rural airport hangars seem to be cheaper than metro area hangars.

2) In my opinion, variable costs are pretty inconsequential....fuel burn 5 GPH auto gas if I am in a hurry and a lot less if I throttle back. The Rotax is pretty economical to run. Oil change when needed but all in all...not much of a concern.

3) If a person wants to get particular.....they can figure in the replacement cost of life limited parts like the engine and prop and tires; and there will be unforseen costs....but nothing like with a 40 year old certified plane in my opinion.The plane has been extremely good on basic maintenance...it should be...it's new. I did have to put in a new encoder last year between condition inspections but I can't blame the plane for that.....I installed it and had the shop calibrate it.

Cheers
Dave S
KF7 Trigear
912ULS Warp Drive

[DesertFox4]

Great information Dave S.
Thank you and all who have shared on this thread.
It is an important part of reaching a dream to logically assess the financial impact to achieve it. It's interesting to read the multitudes of ways to get that Kitfox kit into your shops and then into the air.

[Pilot4Life]

I second that...DF4. Dave S really took some of the "fear of the unknown" out of the equation for me and it gives me a hope for a quicker purchase...

Thanks DAVE S!!!

[SkyPirate]

looks like I might be finding out about the sales tax thing in the state of MO soon,..it's not bullet proof yet ,.but made an offer on a kitfox today

[HighWing]

Congratulations to Chase for his purchase, and my thanks also to Dave for a well thought out and detailed plan. Both my builds were similar to his in purpose and planning, though on the second, both kit and engine were previously owned which saved about $10000. Also the understanding and support from the rest of the household helped immensely.

[SkyPirate]

hasn't happened yet Lowell ,.but thanks the good thing is,..even if this sale doesn't happen ,.I'm ready financially

[DesertFox4]

Fingers crossed for you Chase.