Finally, put me down for a Piper J-3 Cub with a larger engine just because I love old, simple planes.
If any of the above are not available, my alternate is a vintage DC-3 for the durability and art deco beauty. It needs to have a 1930’s interior complete with sleeper bunks.
When I was in Air Cadets that’s exactly what I learned to fly in towed behind either a Citabria or Bellanca Scout. We also had a 2-22 with a F-86 stick! Loved flying that , too. I always said they should have wired the trigger switch to the radio but they never did. I had about 75 hours logged.FJNM, I had time in her!
I’m not understanding your termonolgy on prices. When you say your first item is ~$110m, that says to me “one hundred ten million dollars.” Clearly that’s not that you meant. So either you’re not talking US dollars, or your abbreviations aren’t the ones I’m used to. Care to explain for us dummies?
Van’s RV-10 - the family fun plane (the “$100 hamburger” machine) that’s IFR-capable. $125-$150k, depending on how nuts I went with the avionics.
MD Helicopters MD-500E - gotta have a helo… might as well be a fun one. $800k-$1m.
Pilatus PC-12NG - the family travel plane. $3-$3.5m.
North American T-6 Texan/SNJ/Harvard - to properly scratch my warbird itch, I gotta have that round sound. $170-$200k.
The RVs would be built by me, saving some money and satisfying that particular burning desire of mine. Buying preowned on the 500 and the PC-12 will save quite a bit as well, leaving plenty of funds for the hangar and GSE, fuel, and maintenance (a decent portion of which I could legally do myself).
In the bond world & in Roman numerals, “m” = 1000 so the balloon & tricked out chase vehicle are about $110,000. “mm” (1000 x 1000) = $1 million, sometimes it’s also “M” (capitalized).
That’s a 2-33! I’ve flown those too. Re-read my post and look at the pic again – I want a 2-32 ! Not the same! Here’s another 2-32 pic. Mid-wing, spacious cockpit – Carries two people in the back seat! More pics of the 2-32, some with two people in the back. It’s the glider with the red-white-and-blue tail with the big 3 on it.
Also, back when I was doing print buying, that was how we specified the quantities to be delivered. It’s how the paper was ordered too, as long as you were ordering sheets and not rolls.
I’m still trying to decide what to put on my list. Total paralysis. A preview of my current thinking: 2 ‘good’ aircraft, one on the fun side, one on the transport side. Then three hulls to scrap in order to preserve the largest possible amount of that $7.5MM for long term hangar fees, annuals and upgrades, and the all important hours in the air.
I’m presuming I get to keep my RV-8A, and not count it as one of the five.
For backcountry capability a Aviatt Husky or supercub $85,000
Something more aerobatic than the RV: Extra 330L: $330,000
Can go gliding without needing a tow: Stemme S-10: $400,000
For when you want to take a few friends: DC-3 $250,000
Because you want a warbird, and I need a project, scratch build a 100% replica Ki-84 Hayate. Use a R-2800 instead of trying to scratch build a HA-45 Homare. Call it $2,000,000 or so?
Leaves $4.4M for operating costs, should be enough even to maintain/run the DC-3 and the R-2800.
I knew the general ref, but it seemed to this IT-ish guy to be archaic enough to call out. In strict contexts I’d use uppercase M for mega, lower case m for milli, and K for kilo.
I didn’t know any current industries still use lowercase m for thousand. I figured that usage had died out in the 1950s or 60s. Thanks for the update.
Cool. I’ve been on VAF since '06, when I decided I wanted to build an RV-9… but life happened, and my RV dream is currently on life support (hospice care might be a better descriptor).
DC-3. I just like ‘em. They represent the airlines’ coming of age, as well as the Allied victory, but they’re mainly just cool. Deal with it.
P-51. I hope I don’t have to explain why.
Icon A2, just for knocking around and going anywhere, land or water, in something cool.
Learjet 25 (since we’re budget-limited or I’d go newer) - the first and still hottest bizjet, good for longer-range airline-free trips. Of course I’d be up front. And I’ve spent a lot of time on those engines.
SpaceShip Two. Because space. It’s out of the budget, OK, so I’m just buying a ride. Or three.
