Canadian pilot breaks down the true costs of owning a helicopter

A pilot in Canada has broken down the actual cost of owning a Guimbal Cabri G2 helicopter.

The Cabri G2 is dubbed the ‘little big helicopter’ by its creator Guimbal. 

The company says it is ‘the world’s most advanced piston engine helicopter’.

But how much does it cost to own one?

DISCOVER SBX CARS: The global premium car auction platform powered by Supercar Blondie

The Guimbal Cabri G2 has fixed and variable costs

Several pilots and aircraft owners have given a glimpse into the real cost of ownership – including this CEO who broke down what it costs to keep his private jet running, and this commercial pilot who revealed how much his ‘affordable’ plane cost.

Helicopter pilot Mischa Gelb – who runs the Pilot Yellow YouTube channel – recently shared how much it costs to run and operate a helicopter, specifically a Guimbal Cabri G2.

In the clip, he breaks down the costs into hourly variable costs and annual fixed costs.

He then combines them, along with the price of the aircraft, to create an overall cost.

Starting with the breakdown of the variable costs, which included things like scheduled and unscheduled maintenance as well as fuel and oil, Gelb revealed the total was $120 per hour.

The pilot shared how much it costs to run a helicopter per hour

Next up, he took a look at the fixed costs, which included $1,603 per year for the replacement of time-limited equipment, and $12,000 a year for insurance. 

Gelb then shared the cost of the Guimbal Cabri G2, which came to $390,000 – but if paid over five years, six percent interest would be added bringing the cost to $90,800 a year. 

So, the total for all of those annual fixed costs is $103,863 per year. 

Gelb then broke this number down using it to work out a cost-per-hour amount based on how many hours were flown during the year.

Of course, the more the helicopter is flown the less that per-hour number is, so if you were only flying it for 250 hours a year, the hourly cost would be $635, and at 500 hours it would be $327 per hour.

If you flew for 750 hours per year, this drops again to $258 per hour and for those racking up 1,000 hours in the air it comes to $223 per hour.

So, the more you use it the better value you get.