Scudrunners

Although I'm sure it's 99% folly on my part, after doing some number-crunching I've decided that it makes sense to acquire a couple (or few) interesting aircraft and rent them out to interesting pilots. I don't want to compete with flying clubs who have good, solid trainers available at very decent prices. Rather, I want to offer pilots access to some alternative niche aircraft that they might not otherwise have access to - get checked out on a CarbonCub and bomb around in the mountains. Or fly a fast experimental cross-country machine like a Lancair or something. Or ??...


I'm looking for feedback (inclusive of suggestions that I'm embarking on a really bad idea...) and I've put together an online survey:
  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WT75WFT


I'd really appreciate it if pilots (inclusive of aspiring and student pilots) could fill it out and provide some feedback to help shape this idea. I was just down in Florida checking out what I thought might be an interesting aircraft to take out the bush/the North - a diesel 172: http://www.africair.com/diesel-engines/ ... 2-skyhawk/    But early feedback is suggesting that maybe I ought to be focusing on bringing something like a CubCrafters EX3 up here:  http://cubcrafters.com/carboncub    Or down the road trying to get this brought over when available:    http://www.pipistrel.si/plane/panthera/overview


As such, I need your feedback. Thanks!

I'd love to see cool rental planes.

I have to suspect, if someone can afford to rent an exotic plane presuming at least a small premium in price, they will probably buy their own. Be cautious, if fifty guys tell you they want to rent only three to five are likely serious. Possibly even less if they are doing an online survey.

Sounds good though, I'll be cheering for you if you do it.

I once mused about buying a Piper Lance to rent out, or start a club around possibly based at Airdrie, I remember a small FBO near Indianapolous had one back in the 90s. After some discussion and folks correcting me that a Cherokee 6 might be a better choice. I received a few private messages from people interested.

Something a bit faster than a C-172 and capable of carrying a family seemed popular.

I absolutely love this idea. Someone in BC is trying to do something similar [url=https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/pml/rvs ... 54587.html]https://vancouver.craigslist.ca/pml/rvs ... 54587.html[/url]


[quote][color=#222222][font=bitstream vera serif, times new roman, serif][size=3]PM Sport Flyers is looking to form a new 'Club' for pilots that want to 'Co-Op' share in the operating costs of 5 performance sport 'Experimental - Amateur Built' aircraft, which include:[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#222222][/color]
[color=#222222][font=bitstream vera serif, times new roman, serif][size=3]1) Glasair 1 RG[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#222222][font=bitstream vera serif, times new roman, serif][size=3]2) Van's RV-6[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#222222][font=bitstream vera serif, times new roman, serif][size=3]3) Harmon Rocket II[/size][/font][/color]
[color=#222222][font=bitstream vera serif, times new roman, serif][size=3]4) Titan T-51 Mustang (Honda V6)[/size][/font][/color][size=3][color=#222222][font=bitstream vera serif, times new roman, serif]5) Titan T-51 Mustang (GM V8)[/font][/color][color=rgb(34, 34, 34)][/color][/size][/quote][size=3][color=rgb(34, 34, 34)][/color][/size]
[color=rgb(34, 34, 34)][font=Bitstream Vera Serif][/font][/color]
[font=Verdana][size=2]I own a Cherokee 180, which is a really good all around airplane that does a bunch of things at a reasonable cost. Unfortunately it does nothing particularly well and few would call it an interesting or exciting airplane to fly. I can only afford to support one airplane so buying a more specialized machine to do more specialized things isn't likely to happen for me. In an ideal world I would have a hangar with a speedy airplane for long trips, an aerobatic machine for turning my world upside down, a traildragger on fat tires to visit some more interesting strips, and a float plane to go out and get wet. I could afford to buy any one of these things, but it would require too much compromise from other areas of my flying so I stick with my spam can. Having access to a variety of machines would be something I would be very interested in so I could scratch whatever type of flying itch I felt like scratching that day.  [/size][size=medium][/font]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to crunch numbers and find a way for some of these interesting planes to end up with reasonable rental rates, so maybe they won't be premium. Lots of things to work through, though - there's a big swing between renting 100 hours a year versus 300 hours a year; some flying is only useful a few months of the year; some aircraft will need lots of extra insurance and/or training for the type of flying; and so on. But the idea is try and find a way to make this happen, and I'm working on it!


I'm going to reach out to that "PM Sport Flyers" guy - I'm glad to see some momentum on this stuff. I'd like to rent something other than C172s and Cherokees, so hopefully we can get something going here...

What sort of infrastructure are you planning?

I noticed your survey which hopefully I did not skew results too much, had CYYC as an airport option. I think I answered it would not be optimal or whatever. Basically because although I'd love to be able to bicycle over to rent a plane. I don't really want to pay the landing fee. I heard it's around eighty bucks.

Are you considering renting out 172s?

Will you need dispatchers?