So how would the economics work out for someone who bought a used Long-EZ and who has maybe 3-5 hours of flight time each month? Unfortunately, building isn't in the cards for me at this stage of my life.
At only 40 - 60 hours/year of flight time, your costs will be dominated by fixed costs - i.e., hangar rental, insurance, and Condition Inspection. If you're in a cheap part of the country, hangars may be $200/mo. - expensive part and they may be $800/mo. Assuming you didn't build the plane and you want hull insurance, expect to pay $100 - $200/mo. for that as well. A good CI will cost at least $500 - $1K (I charge $900). Add that up and you're looking at $350/mo. - $1050/mo. in fixed costs alone. Now add in 6 - 8 gph depending upon whether you've got an O-235 or O-320, and the price of fuel at your home base (call it $4/gal). So you've got $24 - $32/hr in variable costs (plus a few for oil, and $10/hr for engine fund).
Add all that up for the hours you project and you get your answer. It will not be cheap if you're only flying 40 - 60 hours/year - figure at least $100/hr. Fly twice as much and the cost drops substantially per hour.
But you don't own an airplane to be economical - you own one because you want to and can afford it, and you want to have your own plane that you can maintain and customize as you see fit. It's a hobby - some folks drink, some bowl or ski. My COZY MKIV costs me about $100/hr, and I fly about 100 - 120 hours/year.
