How hard would it be to do this?

I will only speak to the business side of this as I spend my time looking at startup companies that my employer can invest in with a reasonable expectation of at least a ROI of 1.0.

There are three things you need to consider:

Segment: how big is it and is it under- or over-served? In this case, a survey of Nashville travelers can answer the question: would you be interested in an aerial tour of Nashville?

Target: of those who interested in an aerial tour, how many would prefer a small aircraft over a helicopter?

Position: for those who would take an aerial tour, and would prefer a small aircraft instead of a helicopter, what is your value proposition?

If you can answer these questions and determine the rate your target population would be willing to pay exceeds the cost to operate the business (all in), then you have a reasonable chance of success.
 
Velocity173 said:
Why do you believe planes would be better? Outside of cost savings, I don’t see any advantage.
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I would hazard to guess its bias.

Most folks that can afford RW tours will pay for them due to exclusivity, both in an opportunity sense and a financial sense.

The question becomes, if you would take an aerial tour, would you prefer a light aircraft for $XXX per unit/cycle or a helicopter for more $XXX per unit/cycle.

But, if Velo is my pilot, I’ll do it for free.
 
Zeldman said:
So.... a good place to fly on instruments..????? :rolleyes:
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Yeh both!

jimihendrix_gibson_sg.jpg
 
hankrausch said:
The guy who founded Fedex started it as a project in business school, he got a C+ on it with some snarky comment about how an idea has to be feasible to get a good grade..
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Fred Smith, also flew in OV-10s as a GIB (not a pilot) in the Marines in Viet Nam. Wrote that paper at Yale, where he was a fraternity brother of Bush Sr.
 
TCABM said:
I would hazard to guess its bias.

Most folks that can afford RW tours will pay for them due to exclusivity, both in an opportunity sense and a financial sense.

The question becomes, if you would take an aerial tour, would you prefer a light aircraft for $XXX per unit/cycle or a helicopter for more $XXX per unit/cycle.

But, if Velo is my pilot, I’ll do it for free.
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Ha! Ha! I’d take ya down on the deck and we’d fly NOE through Nashville...and then I’d get fired. :(

Like stated earlier, helos are just far better without having the altitude restrictions that airplanes have. You can slow to a crawl and point out sights of interest. Also, especially if riding up front, helos have incredible visibility. That surprised me on my first flight more than anything else. I would think that’s why most operators prefer helos in places like Gatlinburg or Vegas.

I actually think Nashville is a pretty city. Landed on Vandy a couple months back and commented to my crew how nice the town looks from the air. To really experience it, it has to be from 300-500 ft with a panoramic view and not 1000 + ft weadged in the back of a C172.
 
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Velocity173 said:
Ha! Ha! I’d take ya down on the deck and we’d fly NOE through Nashville...and then I’d get fired.
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My only RW rides were as pax with HMX-1 while doing POTUS support. We took the white tops out to the Antietam as part of our rehearsals. My USSS counterpart didn’t particularly like to ride in the #3 bird as he’d been on a #3 before when it suffered a mechanical issue and crashed.
 
TCABM said:
My only RW rides were as pax with HMX-1 while doing POTUS support. We took the white tops out to the Antietam as part of our rehearsals. My USSS counterpart didn’t particularly like to ride in the #3 bird as he’d been on a #3 before when it suffered a mechanical issue and crashed.
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H-3s or H-60s?
 
Tom mentioned it a while back in the thread, but I know of at least one incredibly qualified person who said getting the sightseeing LOA for a much more touristy and picturesque place than Nashville was a complete non-starter/PITA with the Denver FSDO.

Your mileage may vary, but I wouldn’t get too far into spending a lot of money on the venture without asking around about how hard that LOA is going to be to get in your region. Find someone who has one and talk to them.
 
I was at Roche Island in the San Juan Islands near Seattle, and someone was doing scenic tours in a Waco open cockpit biplane (two seats and blanket in back). That place was quite scenic.
 
Although I'm not sure of the legalities, I would think a better business model would be to use the aircraft/training outfits already there. You become their promotion/booking agents. As others have said, all flight schools will offer flights for sightseeing without giving an actual lesson (at least all that I have heard of). What if, instead of getting your own fleet, you offer to the school to book their planes during their typical down times, using their pilots? You just get a cut...
 
EchoKilo said:
Because flight schools don't just put out ads that say "Hey, we offer scenic aerial tours of the city". That's not what their business is for, and that's not what they do. And no tourist shows up to the city and says "hey, lets contact the local flight school and schedule an introductory lesson so we can see the city from the air". My business would literally put out brochures and flyers around town, in hotels, restaurants, etc. advertising our scenic aerial tours. We would take large parties, and would allow them to have some say as to where they want to fly and what they want to see.

I agree. Which is why I get puzzled when tourists keep saying "Oh, Nashville is such a beautiful city." I've lived in middle TN all my life and I still can't see what the big deal about Nashville is. But...BUT!!..... People seem to love it, and love to party in it. It's the new "it" city. People are already partying on pedal taverns, buses, trolleys, and all sorts of other stuff. Why not offer a plane they could buzz over town in for an hour or so?
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I've never come across a flight school that didn't do discovery flights and popular area touring. In the Tampa area it's typically down the beaches and to the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

Combining flight school and touring makes a lot of sense. You need the fleet, the commercial pilots. It just doesn't make sense not to combine them to keep the planes in the air.
 
coloradobluesky said:
I was at Roche Harbor on the San Juan Islands near Seattle, and someone was doing scenic tours in a Waco open cockpit biplane (two seats and blanket in back). That place was quite scenic.
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FTFY
Roche Harbor is a beautiful place. But the guy with the Biplane was based out of Orcas Island. (East sound) He would pick you up anywhere.
 
Shepherd said:
I'm not being facetious, and I don't want to sound mean.
What exactly is there to see in Nashville, from the air?
I have to spend a week or two there every year (sigh... in-laws) and fly into Tune. The area is nice, but it's not visually striking, like NYC or Chicago or San Francisco.
Have I missed something all these years?
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But Nashville doesn’t have as many tall buildings blocking the view of the countryside like those other cities do. That alone should make it better.
 
Salty said:
I've never come across a flight school that didn't do discovery flights and popular area touring. In the Tampa area it's typically down the beaches and to the Sunshine Skyway bridge.
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Flight schools don't fly groups of people on scenic sight-seeing trips. That's not what they're there for.
An introductory flight is not an attraction for tourists to go up and enjoy the sights, it's for new students to get acquainted with aviation. The two can't be pressed into the same service.
 
EchoKilo said:
Flight schools don't fly groups of people on scenic sight-seeing trips. That's not what they're there for.
An introductory flight is not an attraction for tourists to go up and enjoy the sights, it's for new students to get acquainted with aviation. The two can't be pressed into the same service.
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I'm pulling for ya, I hope you can get something going.
 
EchoKilo said:
Flight schools don't fly groups of people on scenic sight-seeing trips. That's not what they're there for.
An introductory flight is not an attraction for tourists to go up and enjoy the sights, it's for new students to get acquainted with aviation. The two can't be pressed into the same service.
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Yes they do. If there is a market for it. Like I said already, every school I’ve ever talked to in the tampa Bay Area does this.

I’d wager if they aren’t doing it in Nashville, it’s only because there’s nobody asking for it.
 
Salty said:
Yes they do. If there is a market for it. Like I said already, every school I’ve ever talked to in the tampa Bay Area does this.

I’d wager if they aren’t doing it in Nashville, it’s only because there’s nobody asking for it.
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Well, my idea is better than flight schools because that explicitly what I'll be in business for. I'll advertise heavily and make it all about joy rides for groups.

Keep in mind when I say "I'll do x," I mean in dream world I'll do it. None of this stuff is actually going to happen.
 
EchoKilo said:
Well, my idea is better than flight schools because that explicitly what I'll be in business for. I'll advertise heavily and make it all about joy rides for groups.
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Groups? How big an airplane you doing this in? Tourists don’t like to stand around while you fly their group a few people at a time, usually.

Unless they’re pilots standing in line to ride on Tri-Motors at OSH. But that’s a different demographic. :)
 
denverpilot said:
Groups? How big an airplane you doing this in? Tourists don’t like to stand around while you fly their group a few people at a time, usually.

Unless they’re pilots standing in line to ride on Tri-Motors at OSH. But that’s a different demographic. :)
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206. Half tanks, useful load of at least 1200. 6 200 lb people.
 
I'm here in Nashville too and I don't think its a valid business idea, for many reasons.
 
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