It always amazes me at the number of "smart" investors who are willing to lose money when you say airplane.
So, I'd say that the original poster's friend should go for it. Put together a good business plan and sell, sell, sell. Get a loan from a bank. There is money to be lent despite what all the "experts" are saying. Credit standards being tightened doesn't mean that no credit is available.
But whatever he does, he cannot put any of his assets in the game as security. No putting the house up as collateral, no taking out cash advances on the credit card, none of that crap.
Put together an LLC and go that way. And if no funding is available that way, what does that say about the business plan? And if the business plan is that shaky, then it would be the height of stupidity to put any personal assets on the line, wouldn't it?