I have owned my US registered airplane on a non-citizen trust - SAC since 2012 - I am a dual national UK and Ireland, been resident in Barbados and for the past year or so in Dominica.
The cost three hundred and seventy five pounds per year - SAC deal with all the paperwork so money well spent.
It would be very, very foolish to ask a US citizen friend to be the registered owner - if he were to outlive you maybe his estate would look to liquidate his assets including your airplane - the costs of getting all tied up with custom legal drafted legal documents would likely be way in excess of using an established trust company.