Current financial position

As at the 5th March 2006, all outstanding bills have been paid and all member accounts are up-to-date. The bank account stands at a credit balance of £11,201. Up to the last member bills, £8,826 of this balance was in the engine fund and the remainder is contingency for fixed annual costs - primarily the forthcoming annual maintenance and insurance bills.

Recent expenditure

The bare-metal re-spray has now been completed to everyone's great satisfaction. The total bill came in very slightly above estimate, but that was offset by the saving on parking charges at Elstree.

During the re-spray we took the opportunity to update the digital displays in the ADF and DME with new readouts to improve the brightness. We also replaced the battery over the winter to improve starting performance. All these improvements were comfortably paid for from the unplanned maintenance reserve budget.

Future expenditure

The two main areas of forthcoming expenditure are the annual maintenance and the insurance.

The annual is due to be carried out in May. Last year we carried out the star annual and renewed the Certificate of Airworthiness for a further three years. There are no deferred defects which need to be put right. It is likely the cost of the annual will be less than last year's.

The aircraft insurance is fully paid through to July this year. We have build a contingency for a 10 per cent increase in insurance costs for the year 06/07.

The bank account reserve is healthy and the annual fixed costs are on target to be fully covered by the member monthly payments without any additional contributions from the members.

Engine fund

Up to the last member bills, taking into account both fuel and variable maintenance costs, we have been accruing £15.71 per tacho hour into the engine fund. This average is after the increase in fuel costs towards the end of last year. We are still healthily above the £15 per tacho hour which we estimated would cover the cost of a new engine in approximately 500 hours' time.