Demo school. A sample flight school with four aircraft and two years of invented flights and bills (September 2024–August 2026). Sign in to see your own school's numbers.
Its bookings fell from 3 to 0 a month, and with costs that don't shrink with fewer hours it ended the period $3,230 short.
Ideas schools in this spot often explore
What changed for the customers who used to book it: instructor assignments, availability, or price.
Whether its mix of dual, solo and rental flying matches who actually wants to fly it.
Whether some of the fleet's training or rental demand could go to it, for example as the default aircraft for certain lessons or renters.
Ideas, not recommendations. Your situation may differ.
Show the numbers
N6047Q flew 7.5 hours at 1% utilization, against 14% for the fleet, and its operating cost of $4,272 was more than its revenue of $1,043: an operating loss.
Hours flown: 7.5 h
Utilization: 1%
Fleet utilization: 14%
Revenue: $1,043
Operating cost: $4,272
Operating margin: -$3,230
3 more
Fixed cost per month: $758
Operating break-even: 33.9 h/month
Actual hours: 2.5 h/month
Hours flown: 7.5 h
Utilization: 1%
Fleet utilization: 14%
Revenue: $1,043
Operating cost: $4,272
Operating margin: -$3,230
Fixed cost per month: $758
Operating break-even: 33.9 h/month
Actual hours: 2.5 h/month
Facts from your data, not a diagnosis.
Bookings on N6047Q went from 3 in July 2026 to 0 in September 2026. main factor
Bookings, July 2026: 3
Bookings, September 2026: 0
Solo flights were 50% of N6047Q's bookings, against 19% for the rest of the fleet. main factor
Solo share, N6047Q: 50%
Solo share, rest of fleet: 19%
Instructors flew 3 of their 192 dual lessons in N6047Q (2%); 1 of 3 flew none in it. main factor
N6047Q share of dual flights: 2%
Instructors who flew none on N6047Q: 1
N6047Q's operating cost per hour (12-month) was $387.63, 165% above the $146.31 of the rest of the fleet. main factor
Operating cost per hour (12-month), N6047Q: $387.63/hr
Operating cost per hour (12-month), rest of fleet: $146.31/hr
Cancellations are costing N6047Q real flying time.
It got 2% of the school's dual lessons in this period, though it was available to fly.
Ideas schools in this spot often explore
What instructors say about flying lessons in it: its equipment, how it handles, or squawks that stay open.
Whether the scheduling software or front desk defaults lessons to other aircraft.
Which lessons it suits, such as a stage of training or a type of student, so it gets regular bookings.
Ideas, not recommendations. Your situation may differ.
Show the numbers
N6047Q got 3 of the 192 dual flights (2%) in this period while available; 1 of 3 instructors flew no lessons in N6047Q.
N6047Q dual flights: 3
N6047Q share of dual flights: 2%
Instructors who flew none on N6047Q: 1
Dual flights, all aircraft: 192
Instructors: 3
N6047Q dual flights: 3
N6047Q share of dual flights: 2%
Instructors who flew none on N6047Q: 1
Dual flights, all aircraft: 192
Instructors: 3
est Includes estimated values: inferred bills, placeholder fixed costs or allocated fuel. Figures for cancellations, downtime and unbilled ground sessions are estimates by design.
Informational only, based on your data. Not financial, legal, or aviation-maintenance advice.
Utilization by month
Apr–Sep, by calendar month. Based on your weekly schedule.
Flights, newest first
Date
Kind
Hobbs start
Hobbs end
Tach start
Tach end
Source
2026-08-24
solo
11312.3
11313.1
9389.0
9389.7
gsheets
2026-08-16
solo
11311.0
11312.3
9387.9
9389.0
gsheets
2026-08-08
dual
11309.5
11311.0
9386.7
9387.9
gsheets
2026-08-07
dual
11308.6
11309.5
9386.0
9386.7
gsheets
2026-07-24
solo
11307.1
11308.6
9384.8
9386.0
gsheets
2026-07-22
cancelled
—
—
—
—
gsheets
2026-07-18
dual
11305.6
11307.1
9383.6
9384.8
gsheets
7 total
Maintenance
Maintenance/hr (12-month)
$136/hr
Hourly (100-hour inspections, oil, other flying wear)
$70/hr
Calendar (annual and other date-driven items)
$182/month
Unscheduled repairs in this range
$0
Engine reserve per hour (overhaul cost ÷ TBO)
$15/hr
Maintenance booked in this range
$2,186
Per-hour and per-month figures cover 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30 (33.4 Hobbs hours), so one month's annual or a month with few hours doesn't swing them. The operating break-even uses them too. Operating cost and margin stay as booked.
Largest in this range
Date
Category
Amount
Memo
2026-07-09
Calendar
$2,186
Annual inspection parts - 152
Coming up
Next 100-hour
About May 6, 2030 (at tach 9,478.7)
11% of the way
est
Next annual
Due by Jul 31, 2027
21% of the way
Overhaul
About October 2034 (calendar limit)
69% of the way
Reserve per hour
$14.58 needed
Dates marked est are estimates: the 100-hour from this aircraft's upcoming bookings and its last 90 days of hours (hover it for how), the overhaul projected at about 1.8 tach hours a month, month by month as it flew from 2025-10-01 to 2026-09-30, × 0.79 for its recent trend.
Maintenance downtime
No maintenance recorded in this range.
Downtime counted against utilization in this range: 0.0 h (times in America/Chicago).
Summary
Hours flown
Utilization
Based on your weekly schedule.
Revenue
Operating cost
Operating margin
Loan payments
After loan payments
Cash view: includes loan principal
Cost/hr
Cost/hr (12-month)
7.5
0.8%
$1,043
−$4,272est
−$3,230est
$0
−$3,230est
Too few hours to be meaningful
$388est
Operating cost by category
Fuel
−$346est
8%
Maintenance
−$2,186est
51%
Insurance
−$840est
20%
Hangar
−$900est
21%
Lease payment
$0
0%
Instructor pay
$0
0%
Other
$0
0%
Operating cost
−$4,272est
100%
Loan payments (after the operating margin, not in cost)
$0
est Includes estimated values: inferred bills, placeholder fixed costs or allocated fuel.
Bars are drawn against the largest category; striped bars include estimates. The percent is each category's share of the operating cost.
Fuel includes $111 allocated to this aircraft from fuel with no tail number, split by Hobbs hours each month (an estimate).
Fixed-cost placeholders (no bill booked that month, so the aircraft's monthly field is used): 2026-09 Insurance $2802026-09 Hangar $300
By month
Month
Hours flown
Utilization
Based on your weekly schedule.
Revenue
Operating cost
Operating margin
After loan payments
Cash view: includes loan principal
July 2026
3.0
1.0%
$417
−$2,955est
−$2,538est
−$2,538est
August 2026
4.5
1.5%
$626
−$737est
−$111est
−$111est
September 2026
0.0
0.0%
$0
−$580est
−$580est
−$580est
Range total
7.5
0.8%
$1,043
−$4,272est
−$3,230est
−$3,230est
Cost per hour, month by month
Month
Hours
Fuel
Maintenance
Oct 2025
0
—
—
Nov 2025
1.1
$18/hr
$0/hr
Dec 2025
3.6
$50/hr
$0/hr
Jan 2026
1.8
$9/hr
$0/hr
Feb 2026
1.1
$67/hr
$0/hr
Mar 2026
5.8
$23/hr
$0/hr
Apr 2026
2.9
$64/hr
$0/hr
May 2026
2.7
$54/hr
$71/hr
Jun 2026
6.9
$50/hr
$313/hr
Jul 2026
3
$63/hr
$729/hr
Aug 2026
4.5
$35/hr
$0/hr
Sep 2026
0
—
—
Calendar maintenance (annual inspections and other dated items): 2024 (part) $0 · 2025 $2,288 · 2026 (part) $2,186
Maintenance per hour is lumpy month to month (an annual lands in one month); the 12-month rate above smooths it.
Break-even and cancellations
Break-even: 33.9 hours a month to cover $758 of fixed costs; it flew 2.5 a month. est
Cancelled or no-show: 14% of 7 bookings (1 cancelled, 0 no-shows).