DC-3/C-47 operating costs

[tulsaboy]

Hello folks... Need some help if you don't mind. Does anyone here have recent, decently accurate figures for the operating costs of a DC-3? I have seen different numbers bandied about, with a median of about 1500/hr. Didn't know if that was still a good number. Also didn't know if that was including maintenance or relying on volunteers, whether or not that included insurance or engine/prop overhaul reserves etc. I have good numbers on engine and prop overhauls and have a good insurance quote, but still need a good operating number. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks! Kevin

[Obergrafeter]

Figure 100 gal 100LL per hour and 2 gal per hour oil conservativley.

[aseanaero]

For non commercial operations work out the cost of fuel for an hour and then triple it and it will be pretty close for an aircraft doing 250 hrs a year

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

Whats the price of 100 av gas these days?

[aseanaero]

In Australia it's about $6 per US gallon so that would put a DC-3 operating cost at about $1,800 per hour.

The only way to do the calculations properly is to do a spreadsheet in Excel, the fixed costs like insurance, parking are the tricky part and will really drive up the cost per hour if you aren't flying many hours per year.

Engines , props , landing gear, tires etc are easy to work out and to be safe work on 75% of TBO for the engines. When you've done all that work on another 10% for unscheduled maintenance like avionics and service bulletins.

[tulsaboy]

Thanks guys. That will work well for a while. If anyone else has any other thoughts, let me know.

kevin