L 39 Cost Of Ownership

[vanNostrum]

Col is this accurate?

[Big Pistons Forever]

Fuel cost in Canada would be at least double what was quoted.

When I flew the L29 my throw away line was the engine drank a beer glass full of Jet A every second….

[cgzro]

If I remember correctly some people run Diesel or bunker fuel instead of Jet A, presumably that saves a few bucks.

[Colonel]

The fuel cost is well known and should not be a surprise to anyone.

I found the maintenance on it pretty simple - easier than a piston twin.
I could change the brakes on it faster than my Honda. You need a couple
special tools and a 3000 psi tank of N2. Pretty simple stuff.

What you need to know, is that every jet has different paperwork and
maintenance schedules. What will cause you grief is the calendar items
which must be changed every X years, regardless of hours flown. Look
at the maintenance schedule for the aircraft that you are considering purchasing
and see what's coming due. Where are you going to get the replacement
parts? What certification requirements will you need? Who is going to sign
off the annual? Who is going to provide them the required training?

I spent six months of my life, importing two of these to Canada. What a
joyous experience that was. And Jesus, the hate I got when I was done.

Anyways, start here.

https://www.document-center.com/standar ... -AC-43-209



Nice little airplanes. Easy to maintain, easy to fly. Just bring your metric
tools, 3000 psi of N2 and a 24V charger. Not rocket science.



Here's how you do it:

www.pittspecials.com/articles/L39.htm

Canadians think I'm an idiot, so that's probably all wrong, though.

Oh yeah, even though I'm a complete fucking idiot, I might recommend
an ultrasonic cleaner for the fuel filter, when the light comes on. You're
going to need it if you run shit fuel. I only ran Jet-A and I still had the
light come on.

[vanNostrum]

Thanks great info

[Colonel]

Any time. My advice for anyone that wants to buy their own jet:

Buy your own fuel truck/tank/pump/hose and purchase fuel in very large
volumes (tens of thousands of liters). The savings over retail are unbelievable.
This is not optional with afterburners.

Your local FBO may look dimly upon such an enterprise, and with good
reason - you are costing them thousands of dollars per tank. Expect noise
about "safety" even if you have the same double-walled tank that they do.

And specifically if you are looking at a C-reg L39: look very carefully at
the C of A. You will see startling differences between identical aircraft,
and not just in the maintenance schedules. Two identical L39's parked
side by side, one may be legal for Day VFR only, the other might be legal
for Day and Night VFR. A third might be legal for Day or Night VFR or IFR.

The differences in avionics are obvious. The engine time is almost unimportant -
you need to look very closely at the calendar items on the maintenance schedule,
because that's what's going to cost you, regardless of how much you fly. An
accountant would refer to these as "fixed" instead of variable (eg fuel) costs.

All I'm trying to say, is look carefully at the paperwork. Like two mechanically
identical Pitts parked side by side, one may be certified and the other experimental
which drastically affects their operation and maintenance.

For example, for an experimental Pitts, you can use a $100 stall warning switch,
but for a certified Pitts, you must use a $2500 stall warning switch. No difference
mechanically or electrically AFAIK.

[digits]

There are Pitts's / Pittses (?) with stall warning switches??

[anofly]

Andrew... there may be a few Canadians at TC offices in ottawa, or toronto ,that may not like you, or some things you did.. But quit throwing the rest of us ,that do like you ,under the bus!! There will be millions of Canadians that dont know you (yet), and they will probably like you too.. . LOL

[Colonel]

There are Pitts's / Pittses (?) with stall warning switches??

Well, the certified ones surely do. They only work for +ve AOA, but ....

But quit throwing the rest of us ,that do like you ,under the bus!!

My bad. I will try to sit on that.

Back to the L39 ... a lesson from history:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bong#Death

40 kills in WWII, top fighter pilot ace - in piston/prop aircraft. A really good stick.
Died in a P-80 (think single seat T-33) shortly after WWII:

It was his 12th flight in the P-80; he had a total of four hours and fifteen minutes of flight time in the jet.

The plane's primary fuel pump malfunctioned during takeoff. Bong either forgot to switch to the auxiliary fuel pump, or for some reason was unable to do so

The I-16 fuel pump had been added to P-80s after an earlier fatal crash. Captain Ray Crawford, a fellow P-80 test/acceptance flight pilot who flew on August 6, later said Bong had told him that he had forgotten to turn on the I-16 pump on an earlier flight

A lesson from history there, for ya.

Engines like fuel, to run. You have probably noticed this with gasoline engines -
you can treat them pretty badly, but if the gas stops flowing, it's all over.

Jet engines have these horribly complicated FCU (Fuel Control Units) that scare
the shit out of me. See, it's really complicated, and when it fails, you have a bad
day. If that doesn't make the hair on the back of your neck stand up ....

So. Systems knowledge time. Why do FCU's fail? Well, one reason is ice plugging
them up, and that's why you always get Prist.

Also, the L39 has a secondary FCU. When you take off in an L39, you watch the RPM
and if it sags, you want your thumb next to the secondary FCU switch.

Those of you that fly fuel-injected Continentals will not find this unusual.

I know that I'm a horrible pessimist, and that can be a downer at parties. But I
expect everything to fail, and am somewhat pleasantly surprised when it does not.