WIX Archives
Follow the demand...
Posted by bdk on Sun Mar 24, 2002 03:20:07 PM
In reply top If you were a hard nosed businessman posted by Paul McMillan on Sun Mar 24, 2002 06:49:22 AM
I think that it would have to be a Mustang. Other than for a few crazed wealthy collectors who might be interested in Bristol Firebrands, Tom Cruise and the like wouldn't be seen in anything but a Mustang. It is easily the most popular and recognizable flying warbird worldwide. Remember when P-51's sold for $250k and you would have had a hard time selling a Corsair for 1/2 as much?
I don't think the demand is as high for those other types. The cost comes down with quantity. By building Mustangs, you would automatically be in a good position to wrap up the spares sales for the 200+ aircraft already out there.
How many 262 spares will the folks in Washington state sell over the next 20 years? How about F3F or Oscar spares out of Texas?
Airframe Assemblies and Flugwerk seem to have a thriving business in the types they deal with, but I think that these are relatively small shops that seem to supply the market quite well, as small as they are. How many current Mustang owners want a Spit, 109, or 190 in their hangar too? I think that most would sooner have another Mustang. Surely if the interest were really there, a Flugwerk 190 would have already flown as well as a few more 109's besides just David Price's example (which doesn't seem to fly anymore...).
In conclusion, from my enthusiasts point of view, I would like a Spitfire/P-43/109/190/Do-335, but from a profit perspective I would market a P-51D. In either case follow the old adage: "The only way to make a small fortune in aviation is to start with a large fortune..."
: Regardless of what you actually like, or would like to see
: .. What would you actually build as far as replicas go.. W
: hat do you think the market could sustain and would actual
: ly purchase??