Rags to Riches to TBM850

spiderweb

spiderweb

Final Approach
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Feb 22, 2005
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Ben
Anyone have a good rags to riches story?

I have a pretty un-interesting "Rags to Middle Class" story, involving going to graduate school and doing well enough to be hired at a couple of colleges.

But if I want to get to the TBM850, I'm going to have to teach a lot more private students. How much a year would I need for 200-300 hours owning a TBM850?

I know musicians who don't perform anymore, don't teach in college, but just teach private lessons in the afternoon and evenings and make $250k. But that's just about all they do.
 
spiderweb said:
Anyone have a good rags to riches story?

I have a pretty un-interesting "Rags to Middle Class" story, involving going to graduate school and doing well enough to be hired at a couple of colleges.

But if I want to get to the TBM850, I'm going to have to teach a lot more private students. How much a year would I need for 200-300 hours owning a TBM850?

I know musicians who don't perform anymore, don't teach in college, but just teach private lessons in the afternoon and evenings and make $250k. But that's just about all they do.
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The payment on a $2.5mm airplane would be $20k/month and you'd need another $20k/month minimum to operate at those hours.

Eggman
 
We have a TBM 850 on our field. Owned by a self made millionaire who started out life painting radio towers. Yes, as a painter painting radio towers. He built his own company putting up radio towers the year cell phones came out. He flies a Mooney for jobs in state. :yes:

Incredibly focused and talented pilot and individual.
 
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Ben, in 1991 I became the first full time employee of a company doing contracting work for the cable TV industry. There was he, his wife and myself working out of their house. The company grew and over time he got his certificate and is now on his third TBM850. It can be done.
 
10 years ago, my boss had less than $100 to his name for the second time (I asked him why he didn't get a better divorce lawyer the second time around:)). He rolled everything he made into real estate and business and now has $3million in rental property, built a company that is paying him $500k per year and a car wash he bought for $75k that with some rather inexpensive TLC now makes him about $300k a year. As he likes to say, his only education is 'Southern Engineering'. The start of all his ventures was him being a welder in the oilfield. Anything is possible. Now I'm stuck flying his SR22:-D
 
Geico266 said:
We have a TBM 850 on our field. Owned by a self made millionaire who started out life painting radio towers. Yes, as a painter painting radio towers. He built his own company putting up radio towers the year cell phones came out. He flies a Mooney for jobs in state. :yes:

Incredibly focused and talented pilot and individual.
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There was a pilot at my field who owns a B737, A Gulfstream, a twin turboprop otter, a couple of helicopters, the 2nd largest yacht in the world, couple of private islands and various large companies... Those are what I know about. He started out operating a shovel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Washington
 
I know a guy who lost his father when he was 14. He and his mother left Texas in 1957 ford with all their belongings and moved back to Iowa. Finding scholastic work less than inspirational, he started work at a small egg company when he was 16. Decided to work there for $0.20 less per hour than in the town factory because he would be allowed to work way more than 40 hours per week and get overtime. Did that for five years and then did a tour in Vietnam. Came back and was given a supervisory/management position. Six years later(still in his 20's) he told the boss that he was interested in an ownership position in the company. This was a small family owned company where such a thing hadn't ever been considered. He was offered the chance to buy 1% of a new subsidiary that they were starting. He convinced his wife and her parents to take second mortgages on their homes and was able to scrape together $19,000.

He continued to save and invest as he was allowed and as family members passed or moved on. 15 years later he owned 1/3 of the entire company when the partnership started to suffer due to the next generation children entering the business. He sold his interest in the business and started his own venture with some other like minded partners. That family of companies is now one of the largest egg producing entities in the world.

The partners have recently decided to start a new venture to give a little back.

http://www.tristateneighbor.com/news/regional/article_c92d41d4-a100-11e1-8477-0019bb2963f4.html

Eggman (Jr)
 
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I'm still a rookie when it comes to this flying stuff but after running a few companies, working in private equity (where you get to see all sorts of businesses and management teams) and getting an ivy league MBA (lots of fun, great friends, limited practical value), I can speak with some authority on business. Here's what I've learned:

1) In order to succeed you need luck, timing and skill. With only one of these, you will fail. With two, you will make money but it's going to be a lot of work. When all three align, you will think you are a genius.

2) If you are not working at a hedge fund, it takes ownership to create significant wealth. You can own a lot of a small thing, a tiny bit of a huge thing or some of a few things. But you need ownership.

3) What you spend is as important as what you make in creating wealth.

And my number one lesson for creating wealth in business: "Fail fast and fail cheap"
 
Wingsofglass said:
I'm still a rookie when it comes to this flying stuff but after running a few companies, working in private equity (where you get to see all sorts of businesses and management teams) and getting an ivy league MBA (lots of fun, great friends, limited practical value), I can speak with some authority on business. Here's what I've learned:

1) In order to succeed you need luck, timing and skill. With only one of these, you will fail. With two, you will make money but it's going to be a lot of work. When all three align, you will think you are a genius.

2) If you are not working at a hedge fund, it takes ownership to create significant wealth. You can own a lot of a small thing, a tiny bit of a huge thing or some of a few things. But you need ownership.

3) What you spend is as important as what you make in creating wealth.

And my number one lesson for creating wealth in business: "Fail fast and fail cheap"
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So you're saying my plan to teach 80 hours a week probably won't cut it?
 
wabower said:
If a frog had wings . . .
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Oh, I'm being totally facetious. I would have to kill myself if I taught that much. 40 hours for a musician who does nothing else is the limit. I teach at two colleges and perform about 40 concerts per year, so I don't teach 40 hours!
 
spiderweb said:
Oh, I'm being totally facetious. I would have to kill myself if I taught that much. 40 hours for a musician who does nothing else is the limit. I teach at two colleges and perform about 40 concerts per year, so I don't teach 40 hours!
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How do you get a cellist off of your front porch?

How do you know when a cellist is playing out of tune?
 
I'm currently re-reading "The Flivver King" by Upton Sinclair. It's a story around the birth and growth of the Ford 'empire'. Pretty interesting read, although I haven't done much fact-checking to see how much is historically accurate. It's much more enjoyable reading it now than it was several years ago in college.
 
wabower said:
If a frog had wings . . .
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I'd fly it.

extra-400-d-ekoy-ebzw-20080617-05050-jpg.JPG
 
There are two more named "wie" and "ser"

Its an extra 400. Odd looking plane and that paint job is a real winner
 
I'll add my dad to the discussion. He left Ireland at 18 for Chicago, where his older brother had landed a couple years earlier. He followed a buddy to Canada ended up in the RCMP for a couple years, met and married my mom. They moved to Alaska, the land of opportunity in 1961.;) worked in a gas station, ran a dump truck and had two kids a daughter and a wonderful son.:D qAfter the 64 earthquake, they moved back to Canada, then to Acworth Ga in 1966. He went to work selling VW's and was VERY good at it, one of the best in the world!:D
My parents lived on his draw check and saved his commission checks, we lived in a mobile home out in the sticks. In 1968, he got a call about a Ford dealership that needed a general manager, he was offered a buy in/buy out. With no real knowledge of the financial end of the business, he really had no idea how bad of shape the business was in.:dunno: he worked his butt off, paid off the loans he wasn't aware of when he signed up and got the dealership profitable. It took him 5 years, but in 1973 he bought a new 182!:D We both got our PPL's in that plane and later traded it for a 310R, then a 414A, and later a 441.
In 1999 we bought a 1989 Citation II S/P that I flew for 7 years, not a TBM, but not a bad ride.;)
 
N747JB said:
I'll add my dad to the discussion. He left Ireland at 18 for Chicago, where his older brother had landed a couple years earlier. He followed a buddy to Canada ended up in the RCMP for a couple years, met and married my mom. They moved to Alaska, the land of opportunity in 1961.;) worked in a gas station, ran a dump truck and had two kids a daughter and a wonderful son.:D qAfter the 64 earthquake, they moved back to Canada, then to Acworth Ga in 1966. He went to work selling VW's and was VERY good at it, one of the best in the world!:D
My parents lived on his draw check and saved his commission checks, we lived in a mobile home out in the sticks. In 1968, he got a call about a Ford dealership that needed a general manager, he was offered a buy in/buy out. With no real knowledge of the financial end of the business, he really had no idea how bad of shape the business was in.:dunno: he worked his butt off, paid off the loans he wasn't aware of when he signed up and got the dealership profitable. It took him 5 years, but in 1973 he bought a new 182!:D We both got our PPL's in that plane and later traded it for a 310R, then a 414A, and later a 441.
In 1999 we bought a 1989 Citation II S/P that I flew for 7 years, not a TBM, but not a bad ride.;)
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Great story!
 
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