Did the ownership math before my first lesson. Flying club won by a lot.

Super early student pilot here — 5.8 hours. Before I started training I went deep on whether I'd eventually want to own.

Spent about 6 months going through listings. Mostly 172s and Cherokees. Pulled asking prices, engine reserve costs, insurance quotes, hangar rates. The usual rabbit hole.

The number that stopped me was the flying club comparison. Local club near me is $3k to join, $135/month, decent fleet. When I stacked that against owning a comparable 172 over 5 years the difference was around $218k in favor of the club.

Joined the waitlist for the club. Won't be eligible until after my PPL anyway.

Anyone else done this math before buying? And for people who own — what did your spreadsheet get wrong?