Warbird Information Exchange

Just for info 'cause you guys have all the secrets:

1. What is the time between overhauls for the engine and prop?
2. What is the average insurance cost?
3. What is the average per hour cost to fly (fuel, oil, etc.)
4. What am I forgetting to ask?

Thanks,

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"There are old pilots and bold pilots but few old, bold pilots."

Great questions...we, the great unwashed, non-airplane owners, wanna know.

#5 What does it cost to recover teh control surfaces...how long od they last?

#6 What does an annual cost?

#7 What does it cost to shelter it?

#8 What does it cost to enter it at RENO!?

#9 What does it cost to be competitive at RENO!?

??

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Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
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1. Normal overhaul on the engine is about 1250 Hours. Let it go much beyond that and you risk buying expensive pieces at overhaul. Overhaul cost is approximately 30k....if you have good parts.

2. Insurance is going to depend on your amount of taildragger and hi performance time. Expect 2500-5000k if you are covering hull.

3. I have never personally calculated it out...but others have and tell me it is about $400 per hour. I would rather have my head in the sand and not know :O)

5. We charge $5500 for all five....they should last a long, long time if the airplane is hangared.

6. Annual is going to depend on what is found. If the airplane has been maintained by a mechanic with little warbird experience and you take it to a shop that specializes in T-6s, expect it to be expensive. A lot of problem areas wil llikely be found.

7. Depends on where you live. At our airport, as little as $200 per month for a hangar.

8. The entry fee is $500, but of course that is the tip of the iceberg.

9. A lot.

#5 Takes about 40 hours of labor per x 5 surfaces. So about $15K in labor and another $1K in materials maybe? With modern materials they will last indefinitely if hangared, maybe 10-20 years outside.

#7 Hangar rent is solely dependant on location. In Southern California probably $400-$1500 per month. Tiedown outside $50 or more per month.

#9 To be competetive at Reno you need a specially modified airframe, engine, and prop. Buy the rule book and do everything they say you can do and then do some other stuff that nobody will be able to catch you doing. You need to basically do a ground up restoration specifically for racing, sealing up every hole and gap in the structure, flush canopies, flush riveted side panels, seals around the tires, etc.

Also don't forget personal property tax (1% of assessed value annually in California unless you have proof of displaying the aircraft at a minimum of 12 public events). If your plane is assessed at $150K value you must pay $1500/year in tax or the state puts a lien on your aircraft and you won't be able to sell it until you pay up (including any penalties accrued). Many states do not have the antique aircraft/public display loophole!

I know running at Reno is a labor of love. There are all kinds of things you must do to the airplane to make it slick, to make power, and to make it "fly right"...or should it be left.... Like they say...How fast you wanna go? ...Well how much do you wanna spend?

I think it would be a hoot to do though.

_________________
Zane Adams
There I was at 20,000 ft, upside down and out of ammunition.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Join us for the Texas Warbird Report on WarbirdRadio.com!
http://www.facebook.com/WarbirdRadio
Listen at http://www.warbirdradio.com

The T-6 class is a stock racing class. To run at the head of the pack you need a very straight airplane and a good strong finely built engine. Very little "modifications" are allowed on the T-6s. You just hope the tech. inspection crew does not find the NOS all inside the fuselage tubing.

If you just show up with a very straight airplane and a good strong engine you will be at the back in the bronze. BDK is right about the mods that it takes to make a good racer. I couldnt' believe all the weight saving and streamlining that went into the construction of our racer.

Beer inventory for the hangar fridge--adds another $7/hr to operating cost assuming a six pack consumed by a crew of two in the debriefing (and it's the good stuff).

#9 I think what they are trying to say is.........Priceless

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One day I looked up and he's pushing 80...
He's got brown tobacco stains all down his chin.
To me he's one of the hero's of this country, so why is he all dressed up like them ole men....

CourtesyAircraft.com has a short write-up on T-6 costs on their website, under "Aircraft Profiles".

Also, some time ago (10 years?) Aviation Consumer had a very interesting in-depth article on owning a T-6. It was written just as if the article had been about a Baron or Arrow. I'm sure there is a soft copy floating around somewhere on the web

Tim is correct about the racer mods. Our #4 was built from the ground up has mod. The eings were completely flushed, rear cockpit stripped out,
cowling completely rebuilt and flushed, gear wells sealed, canopy rebuilt into a lightweight minimally braced unit, telemitry system, ect ect.
Here's a couple shots of her (Dennis Buehn now owns her). See if you can find all the mods and win a free pony



Stock #44 and racer #4 with the B-25
BTW See tim for Pony

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Don't touch my junk!!

True, I guess what I was trying to say is that you cannot highly modify the airframe like flush riveting, bigger engine, different prop, etc.

As a friend of mine that races a T-6 at the front of the gold class always says..." They're all stock, some are just stocker than others!"

and it has to be a certain weight but have you ever seen one weighted there? That's the one mod I didn't mention.
Strip anything out that not nailed down and cut lightening holes everywhere ie rudder pedals. They used to cut the rollover
structure out but a couple roll overs ended that. But, they still caught people using pvc piping for their rollover structure
Oh ya skinny non-stock tires. If you can find a set use SNJ-2 horizontal stabilizers

_________________
Don't touch my junk!!