Platinum Fighter Sales

Platinum Fighter Sales
SPECIAL RESOURCE SECTION
WARBIRD MERCHANDISE
and Holiday Gift Ideas!
409 N. Pacific Coast Hwy #339, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Phone: (951) 258-4205 | Fax: (951) 848-9304
E-mail: sales@platinumfighters.com
www.PlatinumFighters.com
Platinum Fighter Sales
P
latinum Fighter Sales is among
the largest aircraft brokers dealing in
warbirds. Led by longtime warbird brokers
Simon Brown and John Rayner, it’s the
go-to source for brokering or consigning your
aircraft and for acquiring the plane of your dreams.
The partners, with a combined 40 years of warbird
experience, formed the company in 2009.
California-based Simon, who grew up around Southern
California’s Chino Airport, previously managed a firm that
rebuilt many warbirds, including the TF-51 ‘SuSu II’ and P-63A
Kingcobra for Frank Borman. Simon’s first aircraft sale was a
Chino-based P-51D Mustang. “When the owner passed away,
his widow asked me to sell it on her behalf,” adds Simon, a
licensed pilot who, until recently, owned and operated a N2S5 Stearman. Being such a small industry he has sold that same
Mustang three times.
John, based in Melbourne, Australia, earlier worked in the
automobile finance industry. “I left that business several years ago
to pursue aircraft sales full time,” he notes. John previously owned
a Beech 18, P-40N and two T-28s. Today, he owns and operates
a Harvard IIA, belongs to the Southern Knights Aerobatic Team,
and recently started flying the P-51D Mustang.
Platinum, which John and Simon co-own, brokers and sells
aircraft on commission. “Sellers appreciate that we can find the
right buyer and structure the right deal to maximize the sale price,”
Simon notes. “We save them time by weeding out ‘tire-kickers.’”
“Buyers look to us to put them in the right aircraft,” John adds.
“If we know a plane isn’t a good fit, we’ll suggest an alternative.
Also, we ensure buyers get appropriate documentation, logbooks,
spares and so on, and can arrange financing, insurance, ferry
pilots and more.”
Platinum Fighter Sales markets worldwide. “Today, the best place
to sell may not be in the States,” Simon notes. “We know global
markets and work with buyers and sellers on nearly every continent.”
For instance, in 2012, the firm sold a New Zealand-based Hawker
Hurricane to a customer in France. This year, the customer invited
John and Simon to visit the Duxford Airshow and see the Hurricane
on British soil for the first time in 70-plus years.
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When Military Aviation Museum-owner Jerry Yagen decided
to sell his collection, Platinum quickly packaged the Boeing
B-17G “Chuckie” and a FW-109A-8 for long-time customer
Jack Erickson. Soon after, Yagen asked Platinum to list several
of his aircraft for sale.
Last year, the firm expanded and started brokering classic 1930s
aircraft. “It was a natural progression, since many of our warbird
customers also own and operate classic aircraft,” John says.
“There is a big market for classics in Europe. We’ve sold and
shipped several from Australia and the US into Europe and, most
recently, Canada.”
The aircraft brokerage business is all about relationships. “We base
our business on building and keeping relationships with clients,”
Simon explains. “We’re proud to still be working with some of the
same customers we’ve dealt with since the 1990s.” One customer
has bought nine planes through Platinum; another eight.
“Basically we take the hassle and risk out of the transaction for
both parties,” John adds. “It’s a great business to be in. We really
enjoy it.”
WARBIRD DIGEST #51 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2013
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