How An Airshow Pilot Gets What He, Or She Needs

By Maria Morrison

When Skip Stewart began flying, he needed part for his airplane: a prop, an engine, radios, etc. He began calling around asking for sponsorships from various businesses. Years later, he still gets sponsorships, made easier with his increasing popularity.

All of his sponsors are product or in-kind sponsors, meaning that the business will give Stewart a piece of equipment for his airplane if he puts their logo or name on the side of it. "Usually its something you need. You call them up asking for an airshow discount: "I'm an airshow pilot, can you give me a discount?" Normally they will, and you develop that relationship, they give you more free stuff. As I become more and more popular I can get more sponsors."

William "Skip" Stewart has been flying in airshows for a while, but only in the last two or three years has he become really popular. "I'm actually at the point where [the sponsors] are calling me now."
 
As far as the amount of real estate on the aircraft that sponsors get, "I don't really have a set method, there's just three sizes of stickers that I have. The more valuable the sponsorship is, the bigger the sticker." Says Stewart. "The biggest sticker on my airplane is my engine. They give me a $25,000 discount every time I need an engine, so thats my largest sponsor. Propellers are about $15,000 and I get free propellers, so that's big. They guy that makes our t-shirts isn't all that big."

Skip only has two contractual sponsors, those that supply the fuel injection system and the radios. These parts were leased to Skip on the agreement that he will display the business name. He can't sell that airplane because those parts do not belong to him.

One of the upsides of Skip's deal with his sponsors is that he can book his own shows and make up his own acts. If he had a title sponsor, like Jack Links on the Waco, or Oracle with Sean Tucker, he would be a full-time employee of that sponsor, and would go to the shows that they decide. "You know, I'd like to have [some big brand] on my airplane and get $100,000 a year, but I'm a FedEx pilot, so I can't be anyone else's full-time employee."

Some people have tried to get Skip a title sponsor, but he has not gone after them himself. "Im not sure that I'm confident enough to tell someone that they should give me $750,000 a year to put their label on my airplane because its good advertising. Not that I don't want the money, of course. I just don't like coming up to somebody and saying "I'm so good, you should give me money"."

 Although Skip is not directly monetarily benefited by his sponsors, he can collect all the appearance fees from airshows and change his act as he wants.

Not contractually agreed upon, but there is an unspoken agreement between Skip and his sponsors that they will be recognized during the airshow. "Especially here and at Sun 'n' Fun because almost everyone is a pilot. So here someone might see a product on my airplane and want it for themselves."

(Images from file)

FMI: www.prometheusbiplane.com