I know what you are referring to, but the days of rich guys leaving large aircraft on line at flying schools went ages ago. Maybe the odd lance or something still floating around now, but ever since the gov changed the rules regarding tax write offs for aircraft most of the big stuff has dwindled.
Back in the day we had 2-3 PA-31 on line, Barons, Senecas, Saratoga, Lance, Bonanzas and the rest. The owners didn't care if they flew, cause they claimed any cost on tax against some business interest, in fact I doubt they ever wanted to make money. Then the ATO changed the rules and that was that. All happened about the same time they introduced GST, user pays, extra maintenance and increased the fuel excises. About that same time, the stock of used parts started to dry up world-wide and the great GA Armageddon started. I could even go on about how bad the new parts are that you pay over the moon for, but its just one more thing.
Now the only real incentive to have an aircraft is you love it or you can seriously make money from it, the later becoming harder and harder by the minute.
What GA really needs is some government intervention in the way of Indemnity for manufacturers and some sort of kick in the guts to make parts and engines realistic prices. Drop the cost of aircraft by at least half of current cost and you can start seeing things turnaround. Then Air Taxi services become more viable and in line with what customers would pay. I mean look at the cheapest Piper Warrior, now called an 100i, $300k USD, shouldn't be a dime over $100k. Why is it so expensive? overpriced TSO avionics, engine and parts. Interesting to note the Archer TX, which is the same airplane with same engine, but a bench seat and an extra screen costs $100k USD more!
Then, both SE and ME air taxi would become viable for the low end, not just some token work as a side gig.
Last edited by 43Inches; 10th Jul 2021 at 11:42.