I own AND fly my airplane for FREE! | How do I do it? 

I’m 17 and just bought a piper archer, got a good deal with the mechanics and I plan to work and help out to reduce my operating cost and get my requirements so I can get my A&P. Mike I was 15 when I watched your video on this, and lit a fire for me to do the same. Now i’m 17 on my way to my ppl and have an airplane paying for its self.

Very interesting! Well done. Thank you for your breakdown and in such a clean streamlined manner. Great video!

Love your attention to detail! Like the color balance on the video, the subtle camera pans. founts etc. Dint expect this at all in an aviation insights focused video!

Great video, I appreciate the realistic numbers and reality of the wear and tear. Keep bringing these great videos, they def help a lot.

Hey guys, let me know if you find this follow-up to my Leaseback video informative and/or enjoyable. If you have any questions or would like to see anything else moving forward let me know here. And, please, hit the 'like' button and Subscribe for future videos!

Weird coincidence! I watched your videos then I went to take my first three lessons at a local Aviation school. I rented a Piper Archer II. Done few hours then I thought the tail number was familiar. Re-watched your videos and realized that I have been flying your particular Archer! Normally, I respect peoples' property and never abuse a rented vehicle. Although I have never had the privilege of meeting you in person; I go the extra mile being gentle to your plane... Just because I know of you through your RU-vid videos. I really admire the extent of effort and the detailed information you present in those videos. Thank you for the great content and the pristine plane! I promise you I will never forget the master switch ON! Please consider changing the seat covers sometime in the future. The covers overhang makes it harder to reach for the trim wheel. Thanks again Omar

Bro, awesome!!! I've been wanting a plane for my business but can't really get it to pencil out. This could totally close the gap for me! Love it!

Loved these videos so much I subscribed. Nicely done.

such. a great video ! u inspired me to look into that business model. thx ! we would love to hear more about how this business is going for you so far, really interested ! especially more details on how to pick a good place / school, how much an airplane can earn you in yield, maybe some of the biggest problems with this whole thing, and more on the business side of things. Thanks a lot, rly interesting !

Super informative Mike! Thanks! Let’s hear about the avionics choices you made.

Very insightful. Great information.

Great video - thanks Mike. Yep, also noticed the Marshall acoustic amp - I have the same one :)

Great video! In the middle of my private pilots license now and looking at doing this with my flight school as well.

Thanks Mike! Wayne from Canada

Considering buying a plane in FL, long time no flight for an African Bush Pilot w FAA multiple commercial instrument license, I like the Leaseback option! Thank you

Love the video. Think I heard your based out of Va also. Question- how did you go about finding the other party to do the lease back with?

Thanks Mike

very nstructive mr. Webb, thank you

Mike, thank you so much for that really great break down. It has actually spawned a ton of questions for me, but my biggest one is: All of time that the plane is being rented out is time it's not available for you to fly it. It also seems that if you really want to make a go of it, personal use needs to very much take a back seat to rental demands, otherwise, it might get get a reputation of not being available often enough to count on. So, that being said, how much has renting it out affected your ability to take it and go for a trip with your wife for a weekend trip or what have you? Thanks in advance and again really great work breaking it down, pacing , audio quality, video quality, the whole thing!

I'm considering buying a plane and doing a leaseback and getting my PPL and Instruments rating on it. Thank you for your input!

Hi Mike! Great video! Very inspiring. The only thing I don’t think you discussed in your video is the tax benefits you can enjoy with this type of benefit. I am hearing that it can be significant. Can you do another video maybe explaining some of that??

i love this video, I was looking for a good guide to understand the business for a long time. Thank you. I would like to ask you a question: how do you do to give training with part 61, what requirements must be met? is very important project

Mike.....AWESOME. I am a fellow NAVY Vet, and just about to take my check ride for my PPL. I'd like to know more about this, as I think this may work well for me. I am at a very busy Flight School in MD. I plan to pursue my Instrument and ultimately would like to be a CFI. I am about 10 years from retiring from my post NAVY career, and am looking for a good way to get into ownership, with the possibility of upgrading to a HP aircraft by the time I retire. This could fit the bill for me. Thanks for these videos!!!

Hi Mike. Very helpful. You mention the insurance being less than $5k per year and that is the FBO policy you are on. Which insurance company is providing those rates? I have only seen significantly higher insurance rates.

Mike. Thanks for the info. I would love to be able to ask a few questions like did you set up a LLC? Is there anything you regret or dislike? Where are you located? What level FBO did you look for? Etc.

Another reason you’re obviously authoritative is that Les Paul and …? leaning against the wall in the background 🎸👍🏼

In my experience, tires, battery & brakes are also worth factoring in to variable cost calc. Call it $2.00/hr for all three.

Great

Hi Mike, Great video! I'm wondering how unexpected repairs enter into the equation, as those are in addition to your fixed/variable costs. Would one unexpected repair through the whole plan out of whack? Also, does the fear of a huge lawsuit/liability concerns affect leasing back, or is the hugely expensive insurance policy there to absorb that worry?

Thanks you, very informative video. I am about to start a lease back with my flight school. They are all DA40 fleet. They have 2 currently. One thing I am still thinking is, when it comes to the training. Do I use my airplane or I use their plane? Using their plane is basically pay 20% of the rental rate. Using my plane, I am paying the actual operating cost and losing the ability to make money(the hours for other renter to rent my plane). Have you thought about this? This sound counterintuitive that use their plane is actually cheaper than using my plane.😂

So. .. you're my hero. #subbed

Great video mike really considering a lease back option was wondering if you have a recommendation on insurance companies the few I called state they won’t do it thank you!

Hey Mike! I really enjoyed your videos! I also live in VA and fly at KFCI. I hope to follow your plan except its a smaller lower volume airport. Are there instances where its cheaper to just partner with someone and not lease back??

You should do a video on how you found your plane.

That’s interested to see, but how can you get contract with flight school to leaseback. And is it required any specific kind of airplane to leaseback? Thanks

Nice video. Thanks for putting it together. One thing you didn't mention was the rate split you negotiated with the FBO. Is there a range that one needs to have to make this arrangement economically feasible?

Mike, thank you for sharing. I'm thinking about taking lessons for private pilot certificate and thinking if a leaseback option may be better than renting the aircraft ? I would need to finance and was wondering if you would consider doing a video about financing and getting insurance, etc? Great content!

Thank you for the info! this was great as I am thinking of doing a leaseback with my flight club here in San Diego! Would you be able to share what your leaseback agreement looks like?

Mike. Thanks for the insight. Just curious though how to you budget down time when the plane is in for maintenance or if someone dings a wing and need repair?

Hi Mike, thank you for all of the information it’s really helpful! Besides having a commercial insurance, do you also need to open up a LLC or INC company in order to rent out the aircraft your self to being able to pay taxes after reporting that rental income? Not in a leaseback I mean. I would appreciate if you can assist me with this question. Thanks!

Nice incentive to consider leaseback.

Hi Mike, great vid. Any thoughts/experience with higher value aircraft leasebacks - i.e. Cirrus SR22, it seems in the cloud I fly the few they have do seem to fly quite a bit even tho the $$ are much larger

So I'm not looking to make tons of money if I were to go this route, but I am looking to offset costs or make enough money to cover future maintenance issues. With that said, how much control and flexibility do you have with your aircraft's use? Can you cap the total number of hours it can be used in a month? Could you arrange for it to not be used as a base trainer aircraft and only used for things like IFR and complex aircraft training?

Awesome info. One question, can you take your plane for a weekend trip? If so, what are the costs incurred?

Consider writing a book about it =D (new revenue, who knows =) Thanks for the info.

This is a great idea and one I'm looking into as well. Question - did the aircraft already have commercial registration - or did you have to convert it over from private? Was it easy?

Damnit. I just binge watched your videos and now I'm shopping for airplanes and pressure washers. Not even kidding! Did you set up an LLC for your leaseback arrangment? If so, are there any tax advantages to your situation? Appreciate it.

I want to know more about this,, if you can help me with necessary information

How does the insurance work? As I understand it, the flight school has to carry the insurance becuase the aircraft is part of their fleet. But the insurance is a flat rate and would have to be paid regardless how often the aircraft was rented. Do you the owner have to give the flight school money up front to help pay for their insurance coverage of the airplane you are leasing them?

Hi - I’m considering doing a leaseback now because of this video. Would you be willing to provide the detail specifics on how you were able to extract the information from the flight school? I mean the information you needed to decide which airplane to buy and at what cost for the leaseback to work(?). How to wheel and deal with the flight school? Maybe email a leaseback checklist?

How much did the plane itself cost?

How do you find company who lease back plane from someone like me? What did you do to find your lease back company? I'm looking for bit bigger plane like Pilatus.

Hey Mike! I’m looking to learn more from you about this topic, is there any way I can give you anything in value as in my time or $ in return for your mentor ship, thank you

Mike at the about the 4min mark you mention your archer burns 10 gallons at cruise. However, you then mention you factor in 7.5 for your calculations. Why do you use the 7.5 gallons instead in your calculation?

Maybe I missed it, but who pays to store the plane? Hangars and tie downs are hard to come by where I am so there's incentive to find a school that can use the plane and keep it nearby.

Please don't forget to mention that you can only do leasebacks with certified aircraft

How does the insurance work out on this? And who eats the bill when an uninsured renter does damage? And are the 100hrs out of your pocket?

Makes sense you have to get on their schedule to reserve your own airplane. Do you also have to abide by the minimum hour requirements per day if you go for a weekend trip or use the airplane for x number of days?

Do you pay all maintenance fees or do the flying school cover some? If so what does the flying school cover?

mike was great listen to you I am a student pilot and I am very interested in buying a Cessna 172 and do the same as you with my flight school! did you check with them first or you went to buy a plane counting on it? I am 74 years old and looking to a private pilot license at list! not cleared for solo yet but being very close! lessons with flight school are very expensive and that's why I it took me so long to get here! if I could to what you did I definitely will fly for cheap and more often! how does it work to leases back your plane? and what about buying? any help will be very appreciated! I liked your way to manage this and looking for a response! congrats on your flying skills and managing ! sincerely Maurizio Michi

What avionics upgrades did you make?

I’m about to hanger at Hanover airport in Virginia where do you currently have your airplane at to make this happen?

If you are doing leaseback wouldn't that count as business use for Section 179 of the tax code? This would allow you to write off a portion of the purchase price as well as maintenance costs.

Would you be willing to share your excel sheet, if used? Thanks!

I definitely would love to do a lease back, the partner is the lease giver or the school with the FBO? and what if I have tax exemption; how would that effect costs?

Were you able to deduct 100% of the cost of the airplane in the first year by way of the bonus depreciation deduction? If so, can you give me a rough idea of how much taxes you ended up having to pay? I’m a CFI looking to potentially get an airplane, lease it back, and also instruct at the school I lease it back to. My hope is that this will aid in the low pay that most schools are paying CFI’s and potentially bring in a little more income. Thanks, great video!

I have a 182 with a friend, my hesitation with doing something like this is that the plane wouldn't be available when we want it. Do you put in a schedule that it's available for lease? I ask cause, we'd want to be doing weekend trips or just get our flying fix whenever so could limit the time we'd be able to fly.

I'd like to see the numbers for calendar yr 2020. No doubt utilization has dropped with the ongoing pandemic.

I talked to a tax accountant and he said that if i buy an airplane and do a lease back the IRS are going to come knocking. Is it better to write off over 5 years instead of 100% depreciated it

Mike this is very interesting and I would like to talk to you further about this. I now you are i the States, I am in Canada, however I don't think this matters much. I have a few questions I would like to talk to you about personally, if possible. I am happy to call you or do a zoom chat. Let me know. Thanks Bill

Thank you! I’m going to buy a 172 and do this. How do I buy the airplane though😅

Did you or the school determine the rental rate?

What insurance company do you use?

One big benefit you don't even mention is that most if not all of your fixed costs then become tax deductible since it's part of your plane rental business.

You pay for the renters gas?

Are 50 and 100 hour inspections free now? I didn't here a cost for those.

Mike, Can I email you? I have some questions and need your advice.

Why did you quit making videos ????

i would like to be a pilot and fly my own plane ✈

If only I could convince my wife

So the flight school is letting all that potential revenue go bye-bye because it doesn't want to buy a plane that can be bought for a lousy $6500 yrly loan commitment?

Fly for free? I doubt that very much.... Wait until something breaks. Or, an engine needs to be overhauled.. I've always considered lease back to be paying for someone else to fly your airplane. Maybe I'm wrong....

Any business can be made profitable with the right terms. I think your taking too much risk. I would put all MTC and insurance on the flight school. Get a basic lease amount per month and a variable for engine overhaul etc that goes in a separate account incase they close doors. Then it's there problem when it comes time to return the AC in a similar condition. I would even do new engines at the beginning and end of the lease. Less risk and should be able to make %15 or more of the AC value per year.

This is like cheating. lol i like it!

Leaseback is a great deal for the lessee, not so much for the lessor. If it were a good deal for the lessor, the lessee won't sign it. They will look for another sucker and convince them a leaseback is a good deal.

Wow, $150 an hour for a 40-year-old Archer these days. Glad I don't have to rent.

Hey Mike can I have your email Brotha? I’m a student pilot looking to enter a leaseback soon. Would like to ask for some advice

Can I also hear about the mansion you live in for free? Please e-mail me that information.