Warbird restoration industry

Hellcat: No way would I count you out. Been there and done that with owning the company. We lost two companies and a heck of a lot of money and resources when Val became disabled.

Keep plugging away at the airshows, as that is one of the best places to get some face time and become recognized and making contacts in the warbird world. Making the big bucks shouldn't be the ultimate goal or sucess.....Making enough to do what you want to do and being happy and content at the same time is the true measure of success.

BTW, can I pm you about some generalized architectural services practices? Got some kinda weird questions for budgetary planning for some design services we are will be needing in the next year or so.

Absolutely you can anytime, I have always gauged my satisfaction in life by whom ever I can help and give advise. That doesn't mean I know any good advise though ... You're very welcome to PM me anytime.

BTW, I have a few tricks up my collective sleeves for getting involved in the warbird world, my first step will be this year at Chino. I'm thinking about having a little tent party at their airshow this year. Some friends and I are going to attend ... If you or anyone else will be attending this year, just give a holler!! .... Only a few simple rules for the beer in the tent ....

Guys: No Shirt, No Service - Gals: No Shirt, No Charge

[Django]

Yeah, there has always been the question of, "Why do these guys pay $100 per hour to get their BMW worked on, but complain when we charge $50 per hour to work on their P-51?"

Gary

Swap out P-51 for "hot rod" and it's the same thing for us.

[Django]

You can't build a machine to restore warbirds. You can have a helper blast off corrosion, but if TMH is the sheetmetal guy and can only put the rivets in the right way, he has to do it. The problem is the demands on his time. The rich guys with the planes want to talk the TMH ONLY. So he spends a lot of time on the phone keeping the guy writing the checks happy. He probably has to do some business items in the back office too. He may well sign the checks for his own company (which takes time).

Again, substitute warbird for hot rod and that is us too. Seems fairly constant whether you are fabricating aluminum panels for aircraft or aluminum panels for hot rods.

[snjfxr]

My 2 cents!! I'm really with Gary on this one! I've been with the Airlines for 27 years and it has afforded me a comfortable living. I've raised a family, sent my kids to good schools, had a nice home, nice cars, etc. What I missed during all that is Aviation!! What you need to decide on is;
People, cargo haulers, or History? If you're good and that takes time, you can do well in restoration. If you want to build a family and enjoy the fruits of cargo aviation, go to FedEx. It's not a airplane, it's an Airtruck! But there is some security in that!
Good luck. Was that helpful??
Dave

[Django]

... I'd close up my Architectural firm and bust out to the airport to lease the largest hanger I could find. Them I would recruit a bunch of you guys to come restore everything we could get our hands on ... In otherwords, I'd do what probably all you would do.

In a similar vein, I became a partner in a hot rod shop last year but I kept my graphic design job. I make too much money to leave it behind, but I get to live my dream of hot rods too after hours. Lots of after hours... and I just do the marketing and design work. We have 4 employees that work along side my partner building the cars. I wish I could be at the shop full time and make the same amount of money. But that probably won't happen for several years. It's an investment for the future.

[RMAllnutt]

Jase made several excellent points here. There are many ways to take part. You'd pretty much have to live on the back side of the moon not to have opportunities to contribute. Even if it meant simply sitting at a desktop computer at home, valuable efforts can be made if you look hard enough. It could be as simple as doing research for a vintage aviation group's website. You never know what you can do unless you ask.

The fact that all of us have made the time to log on here at this website means that all of us do have some time available, regardless of what we might think. It's really down to a question of motivation.... Do you really want to be a part of something badly enough?

If the answer is yes, then you'll find a way. I know that was true for me, and the same is probably true for just about everyone else I know who participates in vintage aviation. Even when I had a far more rigid work/social schedule, I still made time to help where I could. Location is not an issue either. Heck, even Anchorage, Alaska has a CAF chapter. As the saying goes, half of life is "just showing up". What you do with the rest is up to you.

Cheers,
Richard

I think we got a little off tract here, all the volunteer advise is very well taken and greatly appreciated, and in my case, I'll get around to that aspect when the time comes, but I was leaning more toward the restoration industry as a whole. I'm an investor as well and good business tactics teaches you to look for business opportunities, especially in areas where you have a passion. This was my mind set when I posted the thread. If I don't ask the questions, I'll never get the answers .... There is a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.