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Old 24th Jan 2012, 18:18
  #14 (permalink)  
Jan Olieslagers
 
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Ansião (PT)
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To most recreational fliers, a taildragger has nothing but disadvantages (harder to land, more expensive on insurance, less common thus more expensive on maintenance)
To be successfully rented out, it must be commercially viable, so must fit a niche. Two options I can see:

-) good looks & rent out for hard cash to those who have it, and fall for good looks. Example: Extra 300. Added advantage: instructor hours offered at stiff rate too.
-) affordable cost, though not minimal, for those who want something special once in a while, whether looks or aerobatics or both. Here, a microlight like the FK12 Comet might do best.
-) compromise could include vintage trainer, most of which would be aerobatic too: Chipmunk, Zlin, Tiger Moth, SV4

For all options, I think it might be hard to rent out legally - weren't for instance microlights supposed to be never operated for profit? But a clever lawyer/accountant might find a loophole there.
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