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 insurance, hangar and calendar maintenance cost the same whether it flies or not, so at 1% utilization (the fleet 19%) it ended the period $111 short.
Ideas schools in this spot often explore
Checking that all its fuel bills and fuel-card statements are imported, since its cost per hour may be understated.
What instructors say about flying lessons in it: its equipment, how it handles, or how easy it is to book.
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 4.5 hours at 1% utilization, against 19% for the fleet, and its operating cost of $737 was more than its revenue of $626: an operating loss.
Hours flown: 4.5 h
Utilization: 1%
Fleet utilization: 19%
Revenue: $626
Operating cost: $737
Operating margin: -$111
3 more
Fixed cost per month: $752
Operating break-even: 21.2 h/month
Actual hours: 4.4 h/month
Hours flown: 4.5 h
Utilization: 1%
Fleet utilization: 19%
Revenue: $626
Operating cost: $737
Operating margin: -$111
Fixed cost per month: $752
Operating break-even: 21.2 h/month
Actual hours: 4.4 h/month
Facts from your data, not a diagnosis.
Fuel costs look incomplete for Aug 2026: fuel per hour went from $63.23 to $34.83 (down 45%), with no gallons in the data to explain it. Check that all fuel bills and fuel-card statements are imported. main factor
Fuel per hour, Jul 2026: $63.23/hr
Fuel per hour, Aug 2026: $34.83/hr
Change: -45%
Bookings on N6047Q went from 6 in June 2026 to 4 in August 2026. smaller factor
Bookings, June 2026: 6
Bookings, August 2026: 4
Instructors flew 2 of their 84 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 $378.95, 164% above the $143.76 of the rest of the fleet. main factor
Operating cost per hour (12-month), N6047Q: $378.95/hr
Operating cost per hour (12-month), rest of fleet: $143.76/hr
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 2 of the 84 dual flights (2%) in this period while available; 1 of 3 instructors flew no lessons in N6047Q.
N6047Q dual flights: 2
N6047Q share of dual flights: 2%
Instructors who flew none on N6047Q: 1
Dual flights, all aircraft: 84
Instructors: 3
N6047Q dual flights: 2
N6047Q share of dual flights: 2%
Instructors who flew none on N6047Q: 1
Dual flights, all aircraft: 84
Instructors: 3
Not in your data: gallons on fuel bills. The cards leave out what depends on them.
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
Mar–Aug, 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
4 total
Maintenance
Maintenance/hr (12-month)
$132/hr
Hourly (100-hour inspections, oil, other flying wear)
$69/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
$0
Per-hour and per-month figures cover 2025-09-01 to 2026-08-31 (34.3 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.
Coming up
Next 100-hour
About Jul 10, 2028 (at tach 9,478.7)
11% of the way
est
Next annual
Due by Jul 31, 2027
14% 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 2.7 tach hours a month, month by month as it flew from 2025-09-01 to 2026-08-31, × 1.17 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)
4.5
1.5%
$626
−$737est
−$111est
$0
−$111est
Too few hours to be meaningful
$379est
Operating cost by category
Fuel
−$157est
21%
Maintenance
$0
0%
Insurance
−$280
38%
Hangar
−$300
41%
Lease payment
$0
0%
Instructor pay
$0
0%
Other
$0
0%
Operating cost
−$737est
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 $34 allocated to this aircraft from fuel with no tail number, split by Hobbs hours each month (an estimate).
By month
Month
Hours flown
Utilization
Based on your weekly schedule.
Revenue
Operating cost
Operating margin
After loan payments
Cash view: includes loan principal
August 2026
4.5
1.5%
$626
−$737est
−$111est
−$111est
Range total
4.5
1.5%
$626
−$737est
−$111est
−$111est
Cost per hour, month by month
Month
Hours
Fuel
Maintenance
Sep 2025
0.9
$57/hr
$0/hr
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
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: 21.2 hours a month to cover $752 of fixed costs; it flew 4.4 a month. est
Cancelled or no-show: 0% of 4 bookings (0 cancelled, 0 no-shows).