Bravo annual costs

[FlyDave]

My Bravo is up for annual next month. Last year, my first annual on this airplane, I flew down to LA to have the annual done by my old mechanic who has always been very reasonably priced.

Since this is a more complex airplane, turbocharged, more intricate electrical system, and I live 50 miles from either Lasar or Top Gun, I thought I'd get the annual done by one of them since they know this model through and through. I called each shop yesterday and the base price - INSPECTION ONLY - is $3,100 at Lasar and $2,900 at Top Gun.

Is this commensurate with what other Bravo owners are paying for annual? A 201 is at most a couple of hundred $ less.

[piperpainter]

Jesus!

[Danb]

My base annual at a MCS last yr was 2200..annuals run for the last 7 yrs between 4000 and 8500 generally around $4800...

[AndyFromCB]

About $2500 here in the midwest at MSC. I tend to fix everything so my first annual was $21,000 but that included a ton of things replaced including engine (engine overhaul not included in the price), engine mount, seat tracks, oxygen system, bunch of little annoying things. Since then, my annual maintenance has been in the $7500 to $10,000 range, a lot of it avionics. But yes, $3000 on the west coast sounds about right. It's about a 30 hours job to perform the inspection.

[carqwik]

At either Lasar or Top Gun, the total for your annual will be much more than just the inspection...especially if your plane is going for its first MSC annual in a while.  I have had my Bravo annual done by Top Gun since 2002...it's never cheap....but then again, the plane runs great after all these years.  Just wait until you learn about some of the expensive items in the Bravo - like the O2 tank life replacement, landing gear donuts, batteries (2 of them at $500 each), etc.

[Mooneymite]

At either Lasar or Top Gun, the total for your annual will be much more than just the inspection...especially if your plane is going for its first MSC annual in a while.  I have had my Bravo annual done by Top Gun since 2002...it's never cheap....but then again, the plane runs great after all these years.  Just wait until you learn about some of the expensive items in the Bravo - like the O2 tank life replacement, landing gear donuts, batteries (2 of them at $500 each), etc.

 

Wow!  Makes me love my "lowly" C.    

[Parker_Woodruff]

Your money will be well spent (absolutely no suggestion that you have a bad A&P who did the work last year).  You are paying a California premium.

 

I can't tell you how nice it was to have Don Maxwell Aviation (MSC) do the work on my plane.  Honest, good work.

 

We buy Mooneys to fly far and fast.  It was nice to be able to fly across the country and expect that I wouldn't be stuck somewhere because of shoddy maintenance.

 

I look at it like this...You pay me to flight instruct in a Mooney.  You'll be getting a great amount of systems knowledge and Mooney specific knowledge.

 

You pay me to flight instruct in a Baron...You'll get great instruction on airmanship, but I'm just not going to have the more intricate knowledge of that aircraft.  I'll be buried in the POH for an hour or so before I even take off in your plane.

 

I can watch a client preflight a Mooney and see them miss something and point it out.  I can't provide that expertise about a Baron.  I'll be a lot more checklist and a lot less flow.  As opposed to my Mooney flow that's backed up by my checklist.

 

 

In short...you are getting value by having Mooney eyes looking at your plane.

[Marauder]

Wow! Makes me love my "lowly" C.

Or my F.

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[AndyFromCB]

Or my F.

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Them things are not cheap, that's for sure. But 800fpm thru 17,000 puts a smile on my face every time...

[bonal]

Dave I don't know your time constraints and I don't know if Top Gun allows owner assist but your located just over an hour by ground from LASAR and they do allow owner assist it will save you some money but mostly you will be able to learn a ton about what's under the hood and if any gripes come up you will be right there to see for yourself.  My first 2 annuals were very expensive but not because they overcharged me but because they found many things that had been neglected or missed by the previous owner and his IA. If you decide to use lake aero I could give you a ride back to o69. Any way good luck on whatever you decide.

[Danb]

Andy and at that rate your taking it quite easy

[AndyFromCB]

Andy and at that rate your taking it quite easy

 

Remember, I overhauled my engine right when I bought the aircraft. I still remember all the checks I wrote. I baby that thing...

[atn_pilot]

Them things are not cheap, that's for sure. But 800fpm thru 17,000 puts a smile on my face every time...

 

I'd rather stay down at 11,000. I'm not paying those kinds of crazy maintenance bills until I upgrade to something pressurized.

[Bravoman]

I just annualed my bravo and went through everything with a fine tooth comb and replaced a bunch of stiff that was still working but original to my now 17 yr old plane. I fly a lot in imc and want the peace of mind. I don't even want to say how much this annual cost me but a lot of it was my doing and I anticipate the next couple of years being a fraction of this years cost.

[Marauder]

I just annualed my bravo and went through everything with a fine tooth comb and replaced a bunch of stiff that was still working but original to my now 17 yr old plane. I fly a lot in imc and want the peace of mind. I don't even want to say how much this annual cost me but a lot of it was my doing and I anticipate the next couple of years being a fraction of this years cost.

Well, I just wrote the down payment for my son's first year of college for his 6 figure education -- I hope that will make you feel better...

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[carusoam]

That didn't help me at all, Chris...

Where is the boy going?

We have been revisiting Stevens Inst. of Tech...

Flight planning Linden...KLDJ. (Home of the pants)

Best regards,

-a-

[eman1200]

That didn't help me at all, Chris...

Where is the boy going?

We have been revisiting Stevens Inst. of Tech...

Flight planning Linden...KLDJ. (Home of the pants)

Best regards,

-a-

Or as we called it when I had 2 friends going there back in the day.....Stevens Hoboken Institute of Technology

Disclaimer: not because the school is sht, but because we were (and probably still are) totally immature.

[carusoam]

Eman, how far back in the day was it?

If it ain't Boken, don't fix it,

-'87-

[bonal]

Just got an E-mail from LASAR next month is annual time OH BOY! OH JOY! hope this time will be routine then perhaps I might be able to put in some kind of upgrade.

[Bravoman]

Well, I just wrote the down payment for my son's first year of college for his 6 figure education -- I hope that will make you feel better...

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The one saving grace is that my oldest boy is on an Air Force rotc scholarship at auburn in the aeronautical engineering program(yes he has his ppl ), so my costs are real reasonable on that end of things!

[Bob_Belville]

Well, I just wrote the down payment for my son's first year of college for his 6 figure education -- I hope that will make you feel better...

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My two girls went to Smith College and MIT. There are some advantages to being old as dirt... one started college in '85, the other in '91. ISTM the cost of a conventional college undergraduate degree has become obscene.  

[Danb]

Bob I guess at least we're still looking at the green side, I sent my daughter ti Villanova and kinda recouped all the money since she became a CPA also I gave her my ownership in the firm so the well spent funds should keep her for her lifetime, she's 41 yrs old now and most of the requests in the office are for her, so all the you guys are spending on college is most likely the best money you'll ever spend..my hats off to u all

[Bob_Belville]

Dan, I agree with the return on investment on education. But ISTM the rack rate @ places like Villanova has inflated faster than incomes in the years since our daughter were there. Villanova's web site lists average per year cost across all colleges at $60,323. I'm thinking that must be at least 5 or 6 times what it was in 1991 when my youngest started college. And of course some percent of those getting the pricey education will not find a job commensurate with their fancy diploma.  

[Marauder]

Dan, I agree with the return on investment on education. But ISTM the rack rate @ places like Villanova has inflated faster than incomes in the years since our daughter were there. Villanova's web site lists average per year cost across all colleges at $60,323. I'm thinking that must be at least 5 or 6 times what it was in 1991 when my youngest started college. And of course some percent of those getting the pricey education will not find a job commensurate with their fancy diploma.

And that is indeed the problem. There is 6 years between my kids and my son is going where my daughter went -- just for 20% more (not counting the increases while she was there). I wish I could get an annual 10% pay increase.

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[Danb]

For all the younger guys it's a real shame that education and medical cost continue to outpace the so called inflation rate that is poorly calculated anyway..wish there were answers..eg.. No names but I have a client who was a professor at u of d for about 110000 per yr. he. Now is a professor electrical engineer at Columbia for a whopping 380k per yr...wonder why the Ives are so high..commutes weekends..makes enough to rent a house on the island. Gotta love USA