While industry advocates hoping to attract
new hordes into aviation hope too that any attention is good attention,
publicity isn't the only hurdle. Alluring as reduced training and medical
requirements may be, the sticker prices on factory-built light sport aircraft
(LSAs) could prove daunting, if newbies find the costs out of proportion with
other options for weekend fun. One solution is to buy just part of an airplane,
and LetsFly.org has made that
option available for LSAs with its own form of fractional/cooperative
ownership.
LetsFly helps pilots to buy a share in a new
sport plane. One popular option requires just $2,900 up front, a monthly fee of
about $300, and about $30 an hour to fly. That's for a brand-new airplane;
packages for pre-owned aircraft run as low as $59 per month, and experimental
aircraft fees can be even lower.
LetsFly arranges financing, insurance,
maintenance, and creates a Web site with online scheduling for each co-op.
Pilots can construct a co-op around any type of aircraft they like, from
production singles to homebuilts or experimental LSAs.