Around a third of EBAN readers are owner-pilots and many have found that the cost of their aircraft can be justified for both business and pleasure. A private aircraft need not be a bottomless financial pit and as one of our readers, businessman Roche Bentley, has found it can quite easily appreciate with time. Bentley currently owns a Cessna 303 and a Cessna 172, which he has found extremely useful aids in his insurance brokerage firm. It has however proved important to operate the aircraft in the right way; in the worse case scenario an owner can even find himself unwittingly falling on the wrong side of the law.

Bentley spoke to EBAN’s Gary Butcher during a flight over the Cambridge countryside: “I paid £75,000 for my Cessna 303 in 1990. Since then I have invested some money in it (including avionics, a recent paint job and a new engine), but it’s now worth around £170,000. This is not necessarily indicative of the market in general – the 303 is very popular partly because there are only 13 or 14 of them in the country. Cessna made around 300 before stopping production in 1984, when Piper and Cessna were being hammered by court decisions.

“People who had crashed small aircraft even for the silliest of reasons, such as running out of fuel or flying into bad weather were being awarded millions of dollars and for a time this killed the small Cessna and Piper market.”

He added: “People later began recognising that the Crusader was the perfect aircraft for many uses. For example, jockeys prefer them because the model with the heavier duty undercarriage is very sturdy and can be operated from grass strips.”

Bentley was originally attracted to the 303 because it was unpressurised and smaller than a Najavo or a Chieftain. “I had and still have a Cessna 172, but as my three children grew older I needed more space. I read a number of reports about the Crusader and all the indications were that it was a superb aircraft.

So I bought one in 1990, which coincided with an economic depression in the US and I only paid $127,500 (£75,000).”

The 172 has also appreciated according to Bentley, from £23,000 in 1984 to around £40,000. “It didn’t cost me that much money to buy and now I just can’t bring myself to sell it. My son’s learning to fly in it and I’ve got other friends who’ve learned to fly in it. It’s definitely practical for business use, particularly when the 303 is being serviced. Overall I would say that the Cessna 150 is the smallest type of aircraft you could feasibly use for business. But my 303 is a very good size; I’ve taken six people, half sets of golf clubs and adequate weekend luggage and been safely within my weight limit,” he said.

Bentley has personalised the Crusader with the registration ‘G-ROCH’. He explained: “With my insurance brokerage firm we use the aircraft for business meetings and corporate hospitality and it can really make a big impression. Without doubt, it’s a definite marketing boost.”

The fact that Bentley uses the aircraft for business is also beneficial from a tax point of view. “My company owns and operates the 303 and the expenditure is tax allowable. Some of the training is too and the company sponsored my Instrument Rating. When I use the aircraft for private trips or holidays, the company invoices me at a commercial rental charge plus vat.”

Bentley explained that a light aircraft gives a businessman a great deal of flexibility. “A number of people in this country do a lot of business over in Europe and nowadays it’s so much easier for an owner-pilot to fly from a smaller airfield. Previously the restrictions dictated that you had to fly to a large airport (such as Stansted or Southampton) first for clearance, which obviously added to the time and cost of flights. Now we just fax Customs and Excise and Immigration with crew and passenger information and the necessary clearances are obtained.”

Private aircraft can of course cause problems for the uninitiated. “In this country, business people tend to learn how to fly a helicopter or light aircraft and then assume they can use it whenever they want. Because

the weather in Britain and Europe is so variable I would certainly recommend an Instrument Rating to any pilot wishing to rely on his aircraft for business use. It is a challenging and expensive rating but it’s an essential skill in my opinion.

“People who do want to fly in their own private aircraft can often find pilots who will fly as a safety pilot for a reasonable cost. I did this and it made for safer flying and I was able to learn much more,” he said.

A number of pilot owners place their aircraft with charter operators in order to offset some of the

running costs.

Bentley reiterated the importance of choosing a reputable and well known operator: “When I first got the 303 I considered hiring it out and I had lots of enquiries and some seemed to be from suspiciously dodgy people. Then someone I knew in Customs and Excise told me if I let my aircraft out and somebody used it for something illegal it could be confiscated indefinitely.

“Interestingly, after purchasing the aircraft I had a number of calls from people asking me to fly them about. I told them that I didn’t do charter or taxi work and I put them in touch with a friend who did. When I saw him a few months later he said he hadn’t had one call and I guessed that it had actually been local air taxi firms calling me to see if I was doing illegal air transport.”

A major decision that an owner pilot has to make is deciding who will maintain the aircraft. Bentley chose Marshalls at Cambridge. He said: “The twin is kept in a heated hangar and Marshalls are absolutely marvellous. The service is superb and the bills are very reasonable. I would certainly recommend Marshall.”

Now more than ever, the lighter end of the private aircraft market is more accessible to company owners. The lull in the pre-owned market means that aircraft are currently very good value and more and more European and British towns and cities are welcoming private aircraft as they recognise their value to the local business community.