Michael wrote:

Point taken, and I apologize. However, I still don't agree that it is
possible for the owner of a single airplane to get favorable leaseback
terms from an FBO, especially a first time buyer. The only people
I've ever heard claim otherwise were those who benefit by leasebacks
and those who haven't tried but believe it can be done. If you have a
specific counterexample, I would love to hear about it.

An aquaintance of mine had several aircraft on leaseback at Kupper airport through
the 90s. The terms of the lease were that he provided the plane and the FBO performed
and paid for all maintenance and provided insurance. He got something like $10/hour
from the rent. At one time, he had three older 172s on lease. His worst experience
was when a student wrinkled a firewall. That plane was down for 6 weeks, producing no
income, but it was the FBO that had to swallow the repair bill.

He banked most of the rental money. As each engine hit TBO, the plane was upgraded to
180 hp (at the owner's expense) and the rent was increased. His portion of the rent
also increased, of course. As the rental income accumulated, he had each aircraft
painted. The next step was to fix up the interior. At that point, he would have the
FBO restrict the rental to moderate time pilots who could be expected to treat the
planes well. Eventually he pulled each aircraft off the line and sold it for
considerably more than he had invested. In at least one case, he sold the plane as
soon as he finished the interior work. I think he did not have any avionics
improvements made.

He retired to Carolina last year. Dunno whether he sold the last one or took it with
him, but he had sure turned it into a good-looking plane last time I saw it.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.