How viable is it to buy a heli with the intent to lease to a local School/charter?
I'm curious regarding those who have bought an aircraft personally, but with the intent of recouping most of the cost of doing so by renting to a local business rather than just letting it sit in a hangar in between their flights.
Does it make sense to buy a popular helicopter that a local school might use frequently (Like an R22/44, G2), or that a charter or tour company might use for busy days (B206 LR, EC130?)?
Or does it make more sense to buy a more specialist aircraft for things like lifting, fire-fighting, filming, etc with the hope of being the only one around who can do this work?
Basically I'd imagine the idea being like a venture capitalist, hoping your ability to provide an asset will enable the company to benefit from it.