Hypothetical - Wish List

[aidanf]

I'm sure it's been done before, but with the euromillions heading for over 100 million (euro) this Friday I thought it might be an opportune time to raise it again.

Let's take myself ... mid-30's, struggling towards my ppl. If I won the 100mill I'd be looking to buy something particularly tasty, and money clearly wouldn't be an issue. It would need to take myself and the family to the UK regularly, to Europe several times a year, and possibly as far afield as East Africa maybe once every 2 years (naturally, with a few stops along the way).

Having all that money would mean that I'd have the time to get whatever qualifications needed, so what should I buy? How much? and .. why?

(of course posting this question has now buggered up my chance of winning the thing)

[IO540]

Depends on what sort of flying you want to do. Assuming you want to cover distances:

For some tens of millions you could buy an exec jet which could easily fly between Europe and the USA. But it would not be able to drop into some small airfield, say 1000m runway length. You'd end up parking at Luton, etc.

There are jets which can do 1000m (if lightweight) but they don't have much range; they can do UK to say Greece in one leg. Cost maybe £5M-£10M. All the forthcoming "very light jets" are in this category: not much range.

Then there are turboprops, like the TBM850 (£1.5M or so) or a King Air if you want a twin; these are arguably the most versatile European tourers and will do 700m grass runways or 500-600m tarmac (if lightweight).

Given the money, hangarage, etc, I would not go any lower than the above. Piston planes are for the poor people - unless you are into vintage or aerobatics. Even if you had just a 400m grass runway you are still better off with a powerful turboprop.

For licenses/ratings, you will need an IR to do that sort of flying, and you have two options:

The JAA PPL/IR. It will take you 2-3 years to do (if you have a life also). Then you can fly a G-reg plane.

The JAA PPL/IR. It will take about 1 year to do; then you fly an N-reg plane.

If you had the money, the training will be far harder than choosing a plane :)

[rudestuff]

Well i'd be buying a Mig 21, a Citation X, a Pitts S2 or a Yak 52 or both, a BO-105, a MD530F, a Maule on floats - and of course - a Supermarine Spitfire.

Money may not buy you happiness, but it buys you houses, cars, drugs and hookers - and thats a damn good start....!

[markflyer6580]

TBM 850 because they are great.
A Global Express because they are the most badass aircraft you can buy if you want to look flash.
P51d mustang no need for a reason,and wait for it.......






A chipmunk!Purely because I love em!

Prob get a gazzelle and a huey too!

That lot would swallow 50 million euros ish,leaving me plenty for cars:ok:

[hobbit1983]

Pay for Grob to finish developing/certifying the G140TP. Buy one for use as personal aircraft.

Buy small to medium hangar (with attached flight planning & met area/bar/clubhouse etc).

Also buy - EA300LP, PA-18 Supercub, DA-42, Cessna Caravan & possibly a biplane of some sort. Oh and of course a Spitfire :ok:

Crack on with lots of ratings/experience, and aim to run said hangar as flying club. Would try to operate as "members pay running costs only" but really have no idea if that would create more problems (due to possibly undercutting other clubs, lots of wannabe members etc) than it would solve!

[IO540]

Agree re Grob 140 - a fantastic plane which I would buy tomorrow if I had the money.

A perfect European tourer (1200nm range) which can do short field - 200m takeoff roll :) But then you'd expect that from 450HP and 1700kg.

I think Grob will scrap the 140 though.

I would also buy an airfield.

[172driver]

aidanf, thanks for reminding me to buy a ticket ! I'll let you all know what I've bought with the dosh.....;)

As IO540 brings up the airfield - here's another idea (not sure 100 mil would do it, though).

a) leave country
b) buy island
c) build airport
d) found own CAA
e) set up own register
f) develop decent PPL IR syllabus
g) invite PPruners
h) organize mass fly-in/buzz of the Belgrano on newly minted IRs

Hey, we're only dreamin'.........

[hobbit1983]

Aren't Grob waiting for "a potential market" before proceeding with the 140TP development? I thought that a bit strange; I'm sure with the payload/performance capabilty (as you point out IO540) there would be plenty of roles, as well as those who merely want (and can afford) a four-seat turboprob aerobatic capable aircraft for private use.

(can't remember where I read that - a quick google search only reveals news from 2004).

I would also set up a new country with a CAA staffed by AOPA bods.....or maybe an aircraft carrier...!

[gcolyer]

I would buy a Piper 6XT an AN-2 or 3 and two Twin otter's One with water ski's and one with without.

My 6XT is for nice comfy bimbles with not to much weight.

My AN2 or 3 because I can

My Twin Otter with water ski'....well so i can land on water at various tropical islands (obviously a few stops on the way)

My other Twin Otter for the longer trips and heavier weights and the decent short strip perfromance.

I would also buy Andreas airfield on the isle of man and get that up and running again with nice new runway surfaces and some hanagars and a huge BBQ.

[IO540]

The Grob 140.....

Last time they replied to an email, they said it has been postponed while they concentrate on their little jet.

Just like the rest of the known universe then... there must be an awful lot of punters out there who will have to buy these jets, else there will be a fantastic number of unemployed light jet salesmen very soon.

The problem with the G140 is the price. I think it was nearly GBP 800k which is quite a lot considering you can buy a very good condition used pressurised turboprop for that. You could get a mint-condition Meridian with modern avionics for that, and most punters want the comfort of pressurisation. Or a slightly old TBM700.

OK, the operating costs of anything pressurised will be way above that of the G140; probably 2x more. But at that price range, people have the money.

The 140 would have tremendous versatility at the lower end of GA but there isn't much money down there. If they did it for GBP 400k or less they would sell lots, IMHO.

[Martin @ EGLK]

The first thing I'd do is set up a company to buy a Concorde & run it for pleasure flights.

Then I'd buy a HUGE chunk of BA shares, sit on the board & arrange to sell a Concorde & loads of spares, etc to said company. As soon as that's arranged, I'd sell my shares in BA, quit & invest the money in the Concorde flying co to buy the concorde.

With the remainder of the money, I'd buy an island in the Carribean & build a runway big enough for Concorde to land on (though not with any other passengers except me & mine).

Concorde would go back to pleasing the masses through pleasure flights. The profit would pay for the running of my island, the decent twin that takes me shopping in Miami, my aero's aircraft, my seaplane that I'll need to visit my neighbours, my Spitfire & my grass roots flying aircraft.



All very unlikely though as I don't waste my money on the Lottery!

[IO540]

You would also need to buy the owner of the Concorde type certificate: Airbus.

Actually Airbus may be going cheap, if the A380 is delayed any more :)

Also if the UK/EU chucks out N-reg planes, Airbus sales in the USA will hopefully plummet. That would be the time to execute your plan :)

[hobbit1983]

Liking the Concorde idea Martin @ EGLK :ok:

IO540 - you got a better response than me; they didn't even bother responding to my query a few months ago! Although I do notice that they claim that it would be the only 4-seater aerobatic aircraft on the market was slightly inaccuarate - what about the Yak-18? A retro-active poor man's Grob 140 TP prehaps?

(although I may well have mis-read it, - I'm almost certain that it's the only 4-seat turboprop GA aero-capable aircraft)

[IO540]

There are lots of unpressurised turboprops of course but few if any aerobatic 4-seaters.

The G140 would be attractive in Europe because

- it is sub-2000kg which knocks about £30/hour from the cost of an IFR flight; no pressurised turboprop is < 2000kg and that (together with the poor fuel economy of the PT6-based planes at low levels) and general high maintenance is what makes pressurised travel so much more expensive.

- 250kt+ speed

- range to cover much of Europe in one leg

- easy grass capability

- it can climb rapidly (2000-3000fpm) to 25k feet which gets you above nearly all weather (except TCU/CB etc and you would go around those)

- turbine reliability

- decent quality avionics (not the G1000, which I believe will in due time be found to have combined the unreliability of all current avionics into one nice compact package...)

- good build quality, I am sure

[Fuji Abound]

"only 4-seater aerobatic aircraft"

Be careful - I dont know but the few other 4 seater aerobatic aircraft are flight approved for aerobatics with 2 people. I dont know if this is the case here, but some may think 4 seater aerobatics might permit you to make not only your co reach for the bag but also those in the rear seats. :)

[hobbit1983]

Do you think then, given the versatility of the aircraft, it would be sellable to a wide range of customers in Europe.....cos I wanna fly one! Hoping that by the time I qualify, they'll be in use.

Moving slightly back onto thread...how about a G140 charter aeros air-taxi operation..."We'll Fly You To Europe...Upside-Down!"

[IO540]

I was offered a ride in a G140 (the only one then flying, and I don't think they have more than one even now) in 2004. I just had to get myself to some German airport.

But I didn't have the money to buy it, not by a long way, so didn't see any point in wasting their time.

It would have been quite an experience though... 450HP with (probably) 1400kg.

As a VFR+IFR pilot I would have bought the G140 on the spec sheet alone, if I had the money. It's got the exact perfect European touring + messing-about mission capability. And I am not in the least interested in aerobatics.

As to demand, as I said they need to get the price down a bit. They have done the standard aircraft marketing trick of developing an expensive plane (nothing with a turbine will be cheap) so they load it with nice expensive avionics to make it look worth the money. It's undoubtedly a very good package but I am sure that if they were doing it today they would just screw in a G1000 glass cockpit; not because it's good or of proven reliability but because everybody else is doing it so "it must be OK". The price would come down at least £100k with a G1000.

Unfortunately, Grob seem as intoxicated as everybody else with the light jets. There will be a bloodbath in that market; I guarantee it.

[bookworm]

The G140 would be attractive in Europe because

- it is sub-2000kg which knocks about £30/hour from the cost of an IFR flight; ...


I'm not entirely sure you've got into the spirit of this thread. :)

[IO540]

Well the only way to really do that, bookworm, is to purchase a 747 converted into an airborne brothel :)

[Hireandhire]

My modest fleet would be a beautifully restored DC3 with sumptuous interior fit, for family touring,
and
a Sea Fury for fun
and
a dozen staff to maintain them and push them outside so I could just turn up and play.

Easily accomplished on this budget

regards
HnH

[aidanf]

only a few hours to go now to the draw, so that means only a few hours before I can start ordering all of the lurvely aircraft suggested here.

hadn't heard of the G140 before - who knows, might just purchase grob and bring it to market meself :E

[alvin-sfc]

My wish list is:P51D,SPIT MK9,Chipmunk,Boeing Stearman.I would make the Panton brothers an offer for their Lancaster "Just Jane" and then try to make it airworthy,officially.The P51D will be painted silver with a blue nose and D-Day invasion stripes. S..t hot.Anybody want to add to the dream?:ok: :) :eek:

[Nil Flaps]

I flew in a Lancair PropJet for the first time the other day, and since that experience there's nothing else I'd rather buy.

Climbs at 4000fpm, cruises at 250KIAS, rides like a rocket. Even at a standstill it looks like it's itching to get off the ground. Beautiful aircraft.

[IO540]

That's an Experimental category plane though, isn't it? You have them flying in Australia??

It would be pretty amazing if one could bring one to the UK under a Permit.

[Nil Flaps]

I did wonder about the word 'Experimental' that was written on the inside of the door, but never got round to asking the owner why it said this. I’m pretty new to flying, but yes, they are flying in Australia... at least I know of one that is! I didn’t take these (they're courtesy of airliners.net) but this is the very aircraft Mr. Fitzgerald was kind enough to give us a ride in to Perth. 155 kilometres in 15 minutes. Brilliant!


http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/matthewgadams/LauriesLancair2.jpg

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j236/matthewgadams/LauriesLancair.jpg