Warbird Information Exchange

how much would it cost to own,fly and maintain one of these
birds? They cost around 90G its my dream and the only warbird i could afford as i hope to enter the airforce and then become an engineer. Thanks!

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Gregory, "Pappy" Boyington is the best drunk to controll a supercharged R2800 ever!

1. If you can find a flyable T-6 for $90K, then BUY IT NOW. The market price is much closer to $150K currently for anything that has been reasonably maintained and has any sort of time remaining on the engine.

2. Unless there is some kind of engineer bonus pay that the USAF offers, you won't be able to own/operate/maintain/insure a T-6 on a junior USAF officer's salary. I can't afford it on a Field Grade officer (with flight pay AND the "pilot bonus") budget.

3. Buying the airplane is the least of the costs you'll have to cover. The fuel, oil, maintenance, and insurance will cost you many times the simple monthly payment on the loan to own it. I have a budget for a T-6 that is purchased for $150K (90% financed) and operated 200 hours over the course of 3 years. At the end of that 3 years, the budget has expended $90,000 and barely has 5% equity in the aircraft.

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figure at least 4 times the cost of fuel per hour, just to maintain it.

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Engine overhaul is near $40K now assuming your core is good (crank, master rod, cam & cylinders). A cylinder overhaul is about $1300 for a stud assembly, $2300 including piston and valves.

A PT or L bird might better fit your budget. They are still fun to fly.

Zachary...You can take that as gospel. BDK has BTDT.

Mudge the bringer of the gospel

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Land of the free because of the brave

For 90k, it is highly unlikely that the spar/attach angle AD has been done. I'm not an expert but I've heard it can cost up to 100k to have the AD done... I'm sure someone else can correct me if my estimate is wrong.

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real airplanes have round engines

Assuming all of the attach angles were bad I think it would be more around $10k to $15k. Unfortunately I agree with everything else. The real expense starts when the engine fires. Gas and insurance costs are significant. I have seen some of the $90k T-6s out there, but they also come with a long list of issues. An engine OH and a paint job put you right into the range of one of the nicer ones that are ready to go. I went the inexpensive route a bought a few projects (3) and I'm only about $250k away from getting one of them flying

Chunks

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Jack McDonnel

T-6/SNJ Hoarder

And not that much different in actual performance than a Stearman...

Ryan

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Aerial Photographer with Red Wing Aerial Photography currently based at KRBD and tailwheel CFI.
Websites: Texas Tailwheel Flight Training, DoolittleRaid.com and Lbirds.com.

The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD. - Prov. 21:31 - Train, Practice, Trust.

Don't forget the Harvards! (Mk4s are probably the best value for various reasons......IMO)
VL