In some ways, that's much like car ownership. People focus on automotive capital costs, example: $30K for a new car vs $17K for a used car. But completely miss the other major expenses, such as fuel, insurance, routine maintenance, tires and brakes, and never consider the "cost per mile".
Aircraft ownership can easily cost less than similar rentals, or not. That depends on the model of aircraft, the hours flown per year, what kind of trips are flown and so on. And of course, the mindset of the owner.
Our Gulfstream G550 over the last 17 years ran an actual cost of $15K per hour. Chartering the very same plane might be as low at $8,500 per hour. However, the benefits of ownership include the often used "let's go now" feature, in all it's glory. And that includes not just "let's go to paradise now" it also includes getting outa paradise when the climate gets ugly, or when a critical feature of the trip breaks down. Paying a Charter operator to remain in Sydney for 9 weeks is so expensive, (on the order of $2M) few would consider doing it.
I think I've put a little over 1200 hours on my 177RG since purchase, I'd have to calculate it out. 2700+ hours at purchase and maybe 4000 now, I'll check. In any case, I budget about $5K for fuel each year, maybe 1200 gallons. Annual inspection costs range from $1000 to $4000, generally on the lower end. Purchase price was $40K. Value today seems to be over $80K. Then there is the cost of storage below $5K/yr.
Really, I'd have to do a detailed accounting of my "cost per hour" but the rental rates for my plane have traditionally been $175 per hour. I'd be $225K down if I had rented one all that time, and a casual glance at my expenses puts me at least a little under that, completely disregarding the price I'd sell it for.
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