if you won the lottery....

[whistlingdeath77]

If you won the lottery for say......10 million dollars. What plane would you buy that would be able to be purchased? Remember about fuel, oil, insurance etc! Mine would be a corsair!

[michaelharadon]

I'd be thrilled with whatever I could find; I'd take my winnings and go looking for my plane along the convoy routes in the North Atlantic (hey, they found the Titanic) since a lot of freighters carrying them as deck cargo were sunk.

[cg51]

10 Million before or after taxes?

[Nathan]

I would have an air museum along with a reproduction shop with a production line to sell the aircraft. I would buy a lot of the derelic airplanes out there. Either keep a few, restore a few and trade and resell them. At lest I know they would be saved. I would also be getting my money back from selling. Even if I lost a few dollars at lest I would get some of it back. So it's not like I would be draining myself.

I would plan to reproduce:
P-40B/C
P-43
P-66
Brewster Buffalo F2A-3 versions.
CW-19/21/22

As for museum aircraft. Again some I would keep or resell:

O-47
Lots of P-40's!
A few EC-121's(derelic)
A few C-97's(derelic)
A-20G/H
Buy the Aero Trader B-25B or C project.
Maybe buy "Miss HAP"
SNJ-4 in the markings of VFM-224
A early model P-38.
B-18
B-17E
one or two B-23's
C-53(derelic)

Just off the top of my head.....

[Jarink1]

Easy, B-17.

I would have it painted in 385th Bomb Group colors in honor of my grandfather and also because the late red checkerboard tails are kick butt cool! (but for some reason aren't represented on any existing B-17s that I'm aware of!)

Use the remaining money to give vets, their families and underprivileged kids rides on the plane for free (or as low cost as possible).

[Ztex]

Tough decision....

The P-51 would be tempting but then I couldn't take my buddies.
A TBM would allow a few friends.
The B-25 is made by NAA and would be even more roomy.
An A-26 is a hot rod and has room.
A PBY would make a great fishing boat.

How about a T-6, room for two, and use the rest for maintenance, hanger, gas, insurance, hotel rooms and food on weekend trips, and have enough left over to tell the boss to kiss my rudder....

[K5DH]

My "what if" choice just might be an A-20 Havoc.

[kalamazookid]

I would buy the ex-Air Zoo Tigercat, take the gross modern nose art off it and restore it to as close to 100% authentic condition as possible.

Then I would use a good chunk to acquire the skills to one day fly it In the meantime, John Ellis would be welcome to fly aerobatics and time he wants.

If there was anything left over after that, I'd probably buy a T-6 and an open-cockpit Waco of some sort, maybe a UPF-7.

[wwrw2007]

Kermit's pile of B-29 parts sitting at Borego Springs and make Kee Bird II with a proper fuel tank and operating fuel pump for the APU.

[jet1]

..the L-39's younger brother

Last edited by jet1 on Fri Jul 23, 2010 1:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Green Goggles]

A Lightning.

Or maybe a Corsair or a Mustang.

Then, I 'd just fly it until the money ran out!

[ZRX61]

$10M? That wouldn't even cover the cost of the stuff that would be filling my garage, let alone a hangar...

[Ken]

I'd follow Danny Summers' example and get two Skyraiders an H/J and a E/G. The first ones I'd look at would be those abandoned on various ramps in Vietnam to see if any of those old girls could be saved. Then I'd probably donate a sizable sum to the MAAM with hopes of joining their B-25 and P-61 pilot staff. And so that I could commute to PA, I might have to pick up some sort of Citation jet. This was $10M after-tax, right??

Ken

[Randune]

Hmmmm....there are so many I'd love to have! However given your parameters of maintenance and upkeep I'd probably go with a TBM. Lower price tag for a really nicely restored one, Single engine, room for friends, uber cool turret and bombay. But the best part is I'd have enough coin left over to get out of debt, stay there and still have my warbird! Kinda like having my cake and eating it too!

[RyanShort1]

I think with that much to play with, I'd buy a T-6, L-5, L-4, and Stearman and start a Warbird Rides operation. The L-birds would be restored back to spec and the L-4 used for getting to the airport and back.

Ryan