Warbird Information Exchange

I have not seen this subject here before, but if it's been here please direct me to the string and forgive me. Otherwise...

Since warbird ownership is beyond the reach of most of us, has anyone suggested a fractional ownership scheme. Say, sell shares in an aircraft. Take a T-6 for instance, get 10 guys together to buy a $150,000 plane ($15,000 ea) and share insurance, hanger, annual and other expenses equally. Everyone has equal time in the air etc.

Is this too far out? Am I just dreaming too big?

I welcome your comments.

Dfrat

I'm no expert by any means - on the surface, your suggestion has merit. The single biggest challenge in my mind is going to be finding ten folks in the same area interested in the same thing at the same time...

There are probably other, more significant, issues, but that's the one that jumps out at me first.

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Daddy always said, "If yer gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough" and I'm one tough sonofagun!

This works very well and is the 'norm' here in New Zealand and also is often done in Australia. On our local airfield, Omaka, there are around half a dozen syndicate aircraft ranging from Nanchangs to Tiger Moths

Dave

Was there not a company in AZ that was going to essentially franchise L-39s in a "SHARED SQUADRONS" format... wherein they would manage the aircraft across the country?

V

I was wondering how many on this sire would be interested in doing something like this. I want to start a "syndicate" with an F-86. anyone else interested? I figure we would need more than 10 people though.

My idea would be to sell $5K shares with a monthly MX fee of $25 per share. Sell 100 shares and that way we raise $500K with a monthly MX fee income of $2500. That would be enough to buy a couple of Sabres and get them airworthy and licensed and insured.

Any takers? besides me?

That's where I got the idea, but you could do it with any aircraft.

straw boss the original club mustang...Hollister CA warbird central for the bay area...
http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/su ... 2192.shtml

Insurance is a HUGE issue here, considering the very limited number of under-writers and the qualifications required to be insurable as a pilot.

I thought about the insurance some. Not everyone would get to fly the plane I guess, but it would be great to own one. Perhaps add a T-33 to the fleet so that qualified pilots could fly the plane with co-owners in the backseat. That would work too right?

I don't think that ownershp of a Sabre is the difficult part. I'm guessing that its ferocious appetite for Jet A would be the killer.

Well the gas would be up to the person flying. I can see these acft flying at airshows, flyover requests and if you have the cash, for fun once in a while.

Why not start with an L-bird? 4 or 5 people with 5k each...everyone can fly...fuel burn 4-7gph...Incorporate and make everyone that wants to fly self insure. Renter insurance through AOPA is around $250 a year.

Jim

L-birds are not the same as a Sabre. But I suppose you can start with just about any type and work your way up. The ultimate goal of course is the Sabre.

Not me buddy! I wouldn't want the liability... An F-86 takes a lot of experience, expertise and judgement to fly safely and burns probably $1500-$2000/hr in fuel. Not many could afford to keep current. If you can afford that kind of fuel bill, you can probably afford to just buy the plane too.

You would also probably be hard pressed to find five pilots (let alone 100!) in any single state qualified to fly one. Ten low time pilots sharing one would be an accident waiting to happen.

Just my opinion.

To fly an F-86, you need at least 1000 of flight time with 500 PIC. Plus turbine, high performance, high altitude training and type rating. No one will fly the plane unless they are very qualified. I can see people owning more than 1 share. I know 3 in my state alone qualified to fly the Sabre and many more in nearby states.