How does renting a plane work?

Ben M: How does renting a plane work?
I’m looking into taking some flying lessons and getting my private pilot’s licensce. I keep seeing stats on renting planes, but I have no clue how it works. For example, a plane might be advertised at $ 100 per hour, but how is that totaled up? If I fly from Atlanta GA to Savanah GA and it takes me 2 hours there and 2 hours back, but I stay the day there for 6 hours, am I paying $ 400 for just time spent in the air, or am I going to pay $ 1000 to include time spent on the ground?

Answers and Views:

Answer by tweed801
go to a flying school. they have the plane with lessons.

Answer by aavoucherjunkie
Rental rates for planes are usually “wet” rates, meaning the price includes fuel. The charge is by the hour of flying time and may be called either Hobbs time or tach time. Hobbs time is just like a clock. Any time the master switch is on, the clock is running, racking up hours and tenths. Tach time, however, is only equal to Hobbs (or clock) time when the engine’s rpm’s are high, such as when the plane is actually flying. Thus, when the plane is on the ground, and taxiing, the engine rpm is very low, so renting by “tach time” is a better bargain. Typically, if you take a plane on a cross country trip, there will be a minimum charge per day (usually 2 hours). This varies with who you rent from. Your best bet BY FAR, is to join a local non-profit flying club. The rates will be much lower than renting from the “FBO” (fixed base operator) at the airport. On one of my many xc trips, I flew a Cessna 182 from WI to FL on tach time, stayed 10 days and was charged for flying time (of course) and an extra 2 hours of time per day. I also belonged to a flying club, so I can’t tell you about an FBO’s extra charges. Hope this helps. Feel free to email me w/questions: [email protected]..

Answer by ALOPILOT
You pay based on the hours put on the Hobbs meter… that is the meter that measures the time the engine has been running and thats what you pay off of… at least at every place I’ve ever rented… I would recomend finding an FBO that rents “wet” or with fuel included… I dont know if you will in Atlanta, but you never know…. good luck

Answer by Andrew
You are talking about two different scenarios:

Flying lessons: Most of the time, the price quoted to you is “wet” per hour. That means fuel and oil are included in the rate. For lessons, you have to add in the instructors charges, sales tax and any other possible fees/surcharges that should be disclosed. Example:

$ 100/hr for the plane
+Sales tax on the plane (if any)
+ Instructor fee (usually between $ 20- $ 45 hour)

For the school I fly at, the wet rate is about $ 154/hour with instructor with a $ 9/hr fuel surcharge for a Cessna 172. I live in Pittsburgh, so the rate can vary depending on location, aircraft type and age,etc.

Take that $ 154/hr and multiply by the minimum number of hours to get your private pilots license (40 hours, though most people take closer to 60) and that’s about how much your private license will cost. That doesn’t include any ground school either, but there are ways to go about that too.

For your trip AFTER your private pilots license, the cost would depend on the school. You would be charge the hourly rate, plus some extra, especially if the place you rent from is a flight school. Example: The school I fly at will rent the airplane to you for whatever you fly plus an extra 2 hours per day while you have the plane.

Your trip from Atlanta to Savannah will cost you four hours in the air plus 2 extra flight hours. Every FBO has it’s own rules, so it could change depending on the operation.

Answer by squiggy_squigtones
The short answer is you pay rental fees when the prop is turning.

“Wet” is the way to go unless you know of exceptionally cheap fuel in you area (which is VERY hard to find these days) AND your FBO offers a reduced “dry” rate (also getting harder to find. AND you’d better make sure those tanks are full every time or you’ll hear about it!).

Also, several FBOs in my area charge a minimum of two or three hours a day. SO, if your weekend getaway is only an hour away by air, you might still wind up getting charged 4 or 6 hours while the plane sits for most of the weekend. Not all of them do this, but definitely check first. You don’t want any surprises!

Answer by kbilyak04
You pay for tach time which only runs when the engine is running; however, most places will make you pay a minimum for each day. That could be like 4 hours a day which is pretty expensive.