anjum_jabiru

But as far as I am aware we do not need maintenance by a "LAME" for J160 as it is registered as RA and not VH. Besides $40 / flying hour would be really exorbitant for a J430. In that case it makes more sense to stick with RA rather than GA as the costs really does build up for a VH registered aircraft. Especially if one intends to fly it more regularly for having fun rather than taking it on an occasional holiday. It really boils down to what we want to do with it and how much spare cash one has lying around.

You are spot on rhysmcc. Just had a chat with Jabiru who confirmed this for me. I will need to build it myself and then can register it VH under experimental category and do my own maintenance. It takes around 600 hours of build time. Alternatively I can buy a 2nd hand one and get it maintained through a LAME. I guess the second option would be much more viable for me who does not have the time and confidence to build it by himself. Apparently they now have roller cam on their engines. Does anyone know what is the cost of maintaining through LAME?

By the way, I was speaking to another friend of mine who I got interested into flying. He would like to buy a brand new Jabiru 430 along with his other mates and myself if he decides to go ahead with the training. Plan to take him up in a few weeks once I get my license and passenger rating (to keep his interest up :) Any advice on risks / benefits of buying a brand new Jabiru 430 with brand new Jabiru engine versus 2nd hand Jabiru 430 for nearly half the price and putting in a brand new engine of your choice (CAMiT) in the 2nd hand Jabiru 430 (still works out to 70% of the price)?

Thanks Ayecapt for the figures. Makes a lot of sense. And then you have to factor in the cost of buying a share and time commitments to make sure that the aircraft is kept well maintained. Unless you are a minimum 3 people in a syndicate, given the fixed charges + unexpected breakdown costs if any, it would be more practical to hire at $150/hr wet, rather than buy a share. I guess it works best with more members (minimum 3) and if you are doing more flying hours. I really wish I could join your syndicate but its too far from Wollongong. May be once Ozfergie and I get more like minded people we could set up something in the Camden / Wedderburn region. In fact, I would even consider getting a RPL from CASA if there was more opportunity to fly in a GA syndicate with a RPL.

Planning to do about 50 hrs / yr on an average. May be more, may be less?! If own plane, then may be I will fly more often.

One major cost factor is the Jabiru engine. I was speaking to my instructor who is also a maintenance engineer for RA registered planes (not LAME) and currently building a new kit plane. His experience with hydraulic lifters had not been very promising. He has solid lifters in all his training Jabirus. He has advised to swap the Jabiru engines for Camit engines where possible or at least ensure they have solid lifters. Showed me another Jabiru which had quit twice due to the hydraulic lifters. Enough reason to put me off hydraulic lifters. I am sure others would have had a more positive experience. The 1st thing to do in my case would be to swap the engines to Camit on the Jab 230/430. This would add about 19k to the cost. Good option if cost is shared between 3 share holders. This way we have the most reliable airframe with the most reliable engine one can get at 22k/share. My training school hires out Jabs at $150/hr wet. I was wondering if it is more feasible to hire rather than buy at this stage?

Nope. It was VH registered for 1st 200 hrs as 430 / 4 seater initially. But the owner changed the registration to RAA (?? for cost benefits and not having to go through LAME / CASA maintenance). In order to do this he ripped off the back seats and registered it as a 230 19-reg category (whatever that means)!

No worries. You are welcome. What are you flying as a student? How many hours of dual have you completed?

Ok. If that's a major hurdle then let me know if you have any other in mind. There is another one j400 in lake entrance (vic). The owner is willing to sell it for 37k. Solid lifters and through bolt upgrade, but vh reg. Will need an rpl to fly that one. Or need to convert it to RA.

Just checked Cessnock. Not practical for me as it is way out. Looking for something more local around Wedderburn.

Can you send me your email address and i will email you my contact number.

Can you post the link please Ayecapt, thanks. Wedderburn hangarage is much more reasonable, less busy, less formal and RA maintenance through my instructor would be very reasonable.

I did not know abt the other thread. Would like to close this one.

Thanks for your reply Ozfergie. I was looking at Wedderburn actually. Jabiru 430 is a 4 seater when GA registered. I have seen an ad which is for 45k and registered with RA as J230 with back seats removed. In case in future we decided to go RPL CASA and register it with CASA as 4 seater then we can take 2 or more passengers. (Just thinking about future proofing our investment, thats all.) My instructor based in Wedderburn also does a lot of maintenance work at Wedderburn for members.

Are you interested in a syndicate? Looking at a Jab 430 at present.

Usable load I believe is 260 kgs when RA registered, but not looked into the details. 2 adult passengers up to 90 kgs each plus 5hr fuel as I have been told. #4 is to make sure that when you use the aircraft from full fuel, to top it up back to where it was. alternately keep a more precise log of how much fuel you have used and to top up the amount after your usage. Another option is to fill up only as much as you need each time you fly and leave an hours worth in the tank. It is negotiable depending upon majority. 2 votes vs 1. #7 is to pay for all the cost involved as stated in #3; and make sure everything including any pending work is sorted at the time of the sale; and before returning any surplus back to the retiring member

Hi Guys I am new to this forum and currently doing solos and waiting to give my RAA Pilot Certificate exam. Very soon I am looking into buying my own Jabiru J430 / J400. Given that I would like to fly a couple of hours every week or every other week, I can not bring myself to justify the cost of owning an aircraft and maintaining it for purely recreational purpose, with so little expected flying. Hence I am looking to form a syndicate in the Wollongong - Wedderburn area. It goes like this - (1) We have a share each with minimum 2 and maximum 3 share holders (2) Each of us puts down say approx. $15,000 for a second hand Jabiru 430 costing about $45,000 (3) For each hour of flying logged into the logbook we put down about $30 - $50 per hour towards hull insurance, general maintenance and engine overhaul etc. (4) Once you have finished using the aircraft and put it back into the hanagar, make sure you top up the fuel to full tank for the next person (5) We take turns flying the aircraft so that everyone gets a fair go (6) You can sell the share in it as and when you like, but first preference goes to the syndicate members (7) On sale of your share you get back your 1/3 share of whatever little bit surplus is left in the kitty, after deducting any depreciation and outstanding costs Any suggestions from anyone are most welcome :-)

Hi Guys I am new to this forum and currently doing solos and waiting to give my RAA Pilot Certificate exam. Very soon I am looking into buying my own Jabiru J430 / J400. Given that I would like to fly a couple of hours every week or every other week, I can not bring myself to justify the cost of owning an aircraft and maintaining it for purely recreational purpose, with so little expected flying. Hence I am looking to form a syndicate in the Wollongong - Wedderburn area. It goes like this - (1) We have a share each with minimum 2 and maximum 3 share holders (2) Each of us puts down say approx. $15,000 for a second hand Jabiru 430 costing about $45,000 (3) For each hour of flying logged into the logbook we put down about $30 - $50 per hour towards hull insurance, general maintenance and engine overhaul etc. (4) Once you have finished using the aircraft and put it back into the hanagar, make sure you top up the fuel to full tank for the next person (5) We take turns flying the aircraft so that everyone gets a fair go (6) You can sell the share in it as and when you like, but first preference goes to the syndicate members (7) On sale of your share you get back your share of whatever little bit is left into the kitty after deducting any outstanding costs Any suggestions from anyone are most welcome :-)

Hi Folks, I am new to this forum. I am waiting to get my RAA Pilot Certificate hopefully over the next couple of weeks.