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I am looking for some general advice - this is specific to the UK but may be similar else where.

I know it is possible to hire a private aircraft, I see comments like this on club/rental sites all the time:

Fly ASG members can experience affordable personal air travel for the Channel Islands, France and beyond. Fly ASG offers their services of non chartered aircraft rental to engage customers with a new streamlined approach to business and leisure travel.

Many sites mention the brakes on - brakes off fee per hour, but say you took that trip to the Channel Islands, France, or beyond: how do these companies usually charge for the bit where you will presumably be parked while you work on your sand castles at the beach for the day?

Just to be clear I'm not asking about airport parking etc. but how the owner of the aircraft will charge when it is not flying.

voretaq7
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connersz
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1 Answers1

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Flying clubs and aircraft renters generally only charge for the time the plane is actually in use. In the U.S. at least, this is commonly measured using the Hobbs time (actual clock time used, triggered by oil pressure or some other indicator that the plane is "in use"), or by Tach time, which is a bit trickier but can very roughly be thought of as the amount of wear you've put on the engine. (Strictly speaking it's a count of the number of engine revolutions, converted to "hours at cruise RPM".)

For overnight or longer trips, it's common to find a minimum hourly usage per day. For example, if you take a plane on a 3-day trip, and your club/owner requires 2 hours/day, you will be paying for 2 x 3 = 6 hours of Tach / Hobbs / whatever time, even if you didn't actually use the plane that much. You'll pay for the higher of your actual usage or your minimum usage per day.

It's extremely rare in the U.S., but not unheard-of, to encounter an extra fixed fee per day for taking the airplane for more than one day. (I've never personally encountered a fixed fee like this.) I'm not sure if things are different in the U.K.

Hourly rates can also either be "wet" (the rate includes fuel: any amount you pay for fuel will be deducted from your rental fee when you return) or "dry" (the rate includes the airplane only and you must pay for fuel). "Dry" rentals may or may not also require you to pay for oil or other consumables used.

(This is general information. Of course, if your question is specifically about Fly ASG's policies and fee scales, your best bet is to contact them directly. I know nothing about them.)

TypeIA
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  • Ah ok that's interesting. Would you say that the minimum hours per day would usually be higher than 2 or not? To me it feels like if they had the opportunity to keep it local and have it out for more hours then they would do so. – connersz May 21 '14 at 22:45
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    @connersz I have seen the "minimums" vary from 2-4 hours per day. – Lnafziger May 22 '14 at 01:34
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    @connersz Sometimes they could make more money on a particular day by keeping it local, but then they wouldn't attract those pilots who want the ability to go on trips. It's a sacrifice to increase membership in the long run. – TypeIA May 22 '14 at 11:57
  • checked local club here. Rental rates assume 1/3 of time away from home to be airtime. So overnighting can get rather expensive (especially as rental rates are including the fuel the engine would use while flying, so if you're on the ground for 40 hours after a 4 hour leg, then another 4 hour leg back you're charged among other things for 8 hours of fuel you never used, which at avgas rates isn't cheap). – jwenting May 23 '14 at 10:18
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    @jwenting So effectively an 8 hour/day minimum? Wow, that's by far the steepest I've ever heard of! That club must cater mostly to students. – TypeIA May 23 '14 at 11:50
  • @dvnrrs probably, or short term rentals of only a few hours. They do mention that if you rent for an entire weekend they charge a minimum of 3 hours a day (but apparently not for multiple entire weekdays). – jwenting May 23 '14 at 12:12
  • In contrast, my current FBO rarely allows overnight trips on weekends/holidays because they're booked sunup to sundown with part-time students, but they have no minimum for workdays because the planes would be mostly idle anyway. In short, you have to check with each FBO/club because policies will vary based on their specific clients'/members' needs. – StephenS Jan 11 '19 at 15:10
  • What if i want to fly to another location and dont fly back? Is there any service like "the owner company is responsbile to fly the plane back?" – demonguy Apr 27 '21 at 07:53
  • @demonguy it depends on the club and the reason why you don't come back. Obviously if you crashed the plane, it becomes an insurance matter. If there's a maintenance issue, the club will cover the maintenance and associated travel costs for the maintenance (but probably won't cover your personal expenses to get home another way, and may also charge you for the flight time to fly the plane home if you don't go do it yourself). If you got sick, you'd probably have to pay ferry costs for someone else in the club to go get the plane. Ask the club to find out their exact policy. – TypeIA Apr 27 '21 at 08:04