What is the hourly operational cost of a mosquito?

What are these costs compared to an r22???

I googled it and google came back with $162/hr for the R22…but that seems kinda low, so I’d prolly add like 30% to that lol

I know my R44 (with me doing the maintenance) operational cost is around $300/hr

Probably safe to say with me doing my own maintenance as well it’s around 180 maybe?

Casey Singletary

Man you guys are APs/AIs? Nice! I bet that saves you a heap on maintenance haha

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• Ryan Williams

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  Casey Singletary IA / commercial heli, private fixed wing. Makes flight training cheap when you wrench for the flight school

Dave Storey: To get specific, need to know which one are you interested in? Well, not really. The operational cost between the XE90 and XET is only about $10hr difference. LOL!
As mentioned, there is a 500hr overhaul TBO Kit that will keep the Mosquito XESeries running indefinitely with no time or calendar expiration dates. The TBO Kit consists of Blades, Belts and Bearings. Last I heard, the TBO kit was approximately $6,500. With CFX now making their own stronger blades, that price may change a little. That is only $13 per flight hour.

All the Mosquito XE Series helicopters are the same with the XET and the new XE290 helicopters being the heavy hitters and are very similar in performance, but have a $20,000 price spread.
In 2 years of flying, for helicopter maintenance and consumables I’ve only spent for fuel, oil, grease and filters. My first 2 annuals combined cost me $60. Including the TBO Kit, my hourly cost per hour on my XET is $48per flight hour. The XE290 will be approximately under $40 per flight hour.
The Solar T62-2A1 engine does not have a TBO. It is on condition with a 500 hour inspection of the burner can section.

The CFX800 engine in the XE285 and the new XE290, well, it does not have a listed TBO yet. It is my understanding that no one has actually wore one out yet. That engine is actually de-rated quite a bit and should have a long life. But, the TBO is TBD.

SO! Compared to a R22? It’s really not fair to compare the Mosquitos against a 50 year old certified trainer for maintenance and hourly costs. Each have different designed missions and technology has evolving/improved a lot since then.

I hope this helps. Try to make it to the Composite FX Open House April 2nd & 3rd to see all the helicopter models and team members.

Casey Singletary: The TBO is about $10/hr, last I saw the 500 hour rebuild kit is $5k, that’s for new rotor and tail rotor blades, engine rebuild, and replace every bearing on the copter.
Then per hour operating costs for the 290: you burn ~6gph of regular pump gas, toss on a couple bucks for oil…maybe $30 per hour? XET - I want to say there’s a 2000hr TBO on the turbine…~10gph in JetA… probably $30-35/hr? Not sure how much the rebuild of the turbine costs however