Still trying to find a new airplane

                                                     TRYING TO BUY A PLANE

                                                                   PART DEUX

Flying an older plane has it’s downfalls. Maintenance comes to a point whether or not it is worth keeping it. As my plane sits in Las Vegas and the propeller is in Oklahoma City, I ponder selling the airplane and buying another. You read in one of my recent columns about the alleged crook in CA that was advertising Luscombe's. Turns out I found another flake.

I started looking at Controller.com and some other sites to see if there would be anything I would be interested in. A Vans RV 9A caught my attention. I called a friend of mind that is just finishing building a Vans RV 7A. I asked him what the difference in the 2 planes are, basically the 9 is for cruising being more stable than the 7. 

I found a beautiful 9A advertised in Mesa, AZ. My wife and I decided to buy the plane if all panned out. My friend told me what to look for in the build and gave me some questions to ask. If that worked out and I enjoyed flying it, my friend would then go do a further inspection on the build. If all was acceptable to that point I would make an offer and have my mechanic do a pre buy annual inspection.

I called the number in the ad who turned out to be a broker living in Mesa, AZ. I tried to make an appointment to see and fly it. The broker told me he does not keep any planes here as he has had no luck selling them in AZ. I asked where the plane was, and he told me Long Beach, CA. That did not help my plans any. I asked him to fly the plane here, and that I am a cash buyer. He had no interest.

It is evident to me the broker was not going to go out of his way for his client. I am surely not going to Long Beach to check out a home built airplane without any expertise with me. One lost sale for the broker, and I’ll keep looking for something else.

To be continued??????

PREFLIGHT

                                                                     PREFLIGHT

Pam and decided to take a getaway 3 day trip to Las Vegas landing at Henderson (HND). We had 30mph headwinds and had to catch the 10AM shuttle to our hotel. We arrived at 9:45 and tied the plane down, we would refuel at the self fuel island before leaving.

I’m not mechanically inclined and there are areas of my engine compartment I can’t get to to inspect.

Upon returning to the plane we loaded our luggage and taxied over to the self fuel island and filled up. I then performed our preflight. I fly an old V Tail Bonanza with an electric propeller. I got to the prop area and noticed the electric motor for the prop was out of position. I grabbed it with my hand, and it had a wide range of motion where it should be completely secured.

Pam and I walked back to the terminal building and asked if there was an FBO on the field. The first guy I called was not returning to his business until Monday. This being Thursday it was not an acceptable option. I then asked if there was another FBO on the field and got lucky. Glen Austin of Kings Avionics met me at my airplane and was knowledgeable about my Beech electric prop. He towed the plane back to his shop. I was hoping that some attachments had come loose, no such luck. After taking the cowl and spinner off Glen found that the prop motor bracket was broken in half. I was able to find a new prop bracket that would be shipped out Monday from CA. Glen did a further inspection to find out why the bracket broke. He found the propeller not to be turning correctly and the gears didn’t look good. 

We will be sending the prop and motor to be overhauled. While I was in the hangar a Cirrus pilot was having a flat tire replaced. He sated that I was lucky this happened on the ground, and that I found the problem in preflight....no kidding. I’m very lucky and and look forward to being back in the air in about 4 weeks and several thousand dollars poorer. Welcome to the world of plane ownership.

                                OMG: A DISASTER WAITING TO HAPPEN!

On April 21st Aviation will be different in this world as we have never seen it before.

The FAA sequester starts on April 21. Every pay period of 14 days a controller has to take one day off without pay. There will be no overtime allowed unless a controller calls in sick and has to be replaced. Vacations are guaranteed without any overtime allowed to replace the controller(s) that are on vacation. Controllers are going to do everything by “the book” which is going to slow things down even further.

The FAA has decided to close almost all contract towers starting in April. Government was not allowed to close FAA operated towers due to the union contract. It could take over a year of negotiations with the union before any FAA towers could be closed. No common sense was used in which towers will be closed. A good example is Whiteman airport in the Los Angeles basin. This airport sits between Van Nuys and Burbank airports. Piston airplanes are going to be mixing it up with corporate jets and airliners in some of the busiest airspace in the country. I’ve always said that the FAA does not believe in safety, but what is in their best interest.

The question arrises what does this mean to aviation travel. The following scenarios have been given to me by someone in the know at the FAA. There will be a ground stoppage due to the lack of controllers to work a flight in their sector. There will be fewer slots at an airport. What this means is a flight that is scheduled to leave Phoenix to Kennedy with a departure time of 9AM might not leave until 11AM. Airliners will have to carry more fuel on board because there is a real possibility they will be put into a holding pattern before their arrival. This will cost the airlines dearly in flying a heavier plane that will increase fuel usage. International flights will be given clearance to taxi, and you could see 50 planes lined up waiting to depart for up to 3 hours. Crews could time out waiting for departures, and numerous flights could be cancelled.

Corporate jets will also sit on the ground waiting for a delayed clearance of up to 3 hours. In some cases corporate jet are allowed to depart VFR and ask for a pop up clearance. There is no guarantee that this clearance will be granted. Most Part 135 corporate jets have rules that they can not depart VFR.

Piston aircraft will no longer be given flight following as the controllers will state that they are too busy. IFR flights will be ground delayed, and pop ups might not also be granted as ATC can say they are too busy to grant this. If you are VFR going into IMC you will have to turn around, or if weather is closing in behind you declare an emergency.

Some management in the FAA think that Congress will have no position other than to grant the FAA funds to go back to regular operations by June 1, and some think that this slowdown could go on until October. No matter what happens aviation will be a disaster waiting to happen until this is settled.

Congress and the President decided to use Aviation as a bargaining chip. The only people that are going to suffer are FAA employees and the general public. When the slowdown starts effecting Congress then something might be done. It’s only a shame that ATC can not work AirForce One stating that they are too busy please hold at your current location.

This column is different than what I usually write about concerning aviation. But the topic came up and I had some fun discussions.

If you’ve ever woken up with a woman next to you in bed, and she asks what day it is, chances are she’s a flight attendant (FA). If she asks you what city she’s in then you can pretty much figure that the relationship is over. 

A positive of dating a FA is that you can pretty much figure they are drug free. Fa’s are required to take random drug tests after flights. The biggest downside of dating an FA is that they will most likely not be there when you need them.

I dated a senior FA for five years. She flew PHX-JFK turns. When she came home it was better not to talk to her, and just let her shower and go to bed. She became a human again the next morning.

We dated before 9-11 when there were numerous seats to travel nonrev. Want to go to Alaska or Paris, just hop on a flight. Today I wouldn’t try nonreving to Paris,Texas. Planes are full and passengers are honrey. 

FA’s must have the worst union reps of any business I know of. FA’s are required to report 1 hour before departure. Their pay doesn’t start until the door is closed and pushback. If the flight is delayed it’s at the FA’s expense.

An FA’s life style is different from anything I know of. I thought I was open minded, but when I attended FA parties it was my first time being exposed to the gay lifestyle. It took a while for the shock to wear off. I was always treated with respect by all and tried to return that feeling.

I met my FA girlfriend (ex) at a flight school a friend of mine owns. She was studying to become a pilot. Didn’t know she was a FA until I called her for a date. If you have to be on a schedule then dating a FA is probably not for you. You’ll never know when they are going to be home or working. I went to many black tie events and award dinners alone. 

People have asked me how to get a date with a FA. I asked several friends of mine that still fly that question, and the best response was to discreetly hand the FA your business card with a note on it. If she’s interested, she will call you. Surprisingly a lot of FA’s stated that they hand out their cards to passengers they would like to date. Out of the question is following an FA to their hotel, can you say stalking, or bothering them when they are leaving to their hotel with their crew.

I had some wonderful times when dating an FA. The problem was that I could never depend on her because of her job schedule. You have to decide if this lifestyle will be good for you.

This was written from a man’s perspective and can be flipped easily.

US Airway Pilots v. America West

                                                     US AIRWAYS V. AMERICA WEST

                             WILL THE EAST COAT PILOTS EVER GROW UP!

The FA's from the East and West now have a contract. However the Pilots are still far apart and will wind up back in Court. The Nicolai Award (Federal Mediator) stated that the HEAVY pilots from the East will have the first approximately 500 spots in seniority. Then the balance of East and West pilots will be merged by % of service. All furloughed pilots will go to the bottom of seniority. The East pilots have never accepted this. It went to Federal Court 2 years ago, and Judge Silver told both sides to negotiate in good faith and get it done. So far the East pilots have refused to budge from their previous stance. The West pilots have given up and petitioned the Court to rehear the case. Since the original court date, Judge Silver has become presiding Judge of the Federal Court that oversees this. She has assigned the case to a new Judge. The West Pilots have petitioned the Court for Judge Silver to hear this case as she was up to speed.

My understanding is that American pilots also wish to use % of seniority and not date of hire as the prevailing factor to merge.

I don't feel there will be any merger of the East and West Pilots until the Court makes a decision at trial. This could take another 2 to 3 years. A true shame as Northwest and Delta pilots were able to work things out before their merger.

CAVAET EMTOR

                                                            CAVAET EMPTOR

My wife and I decided to buy a new airplane this week. In all my years of flying I had never owned a new plane. Our reason for buying a new plane is that we wanted something more fuel efficient that could still get us to San Diego, albeit it would take about 40 minutes more than the Bonanza. At 4.5 gallons a hour we were willing to travel slower at a more economical rate. Also with a fuel burn of 4.5 gallons per hour I would fly more often.

I started investigating what new planes were available that fit our mission statement and decided on the new Luscombe LSA. After thoroughly checking out their web site we thought the Luscombe LSA would be a good fit for us and even decided to buy one with a radial engine for “cool” factor.

I tried calling Luscombe in Riverside, CA and received a voice mail with their mailbox being full. I then sent them an email with my phone number and never received a reply. I could not comprehend a going business with a full mailbox. I decided to google this company and was shocked to see what was posted on them.

This company was located in Georgia, Florida, Missouri and now Riverside, CA. I read where they took a $750,000 incentive from Missouri and skipped town. Each time they left a location they allegedly did not pay their employees. They also allegedly took deposits from customers, the first being $15,000 then a follow up of $25,0000 without ever building an airplane. In fact it is questionable if they even have a FAA type certificate or legal rights to build the new Luscombe.

This company kept opening under a new LLC and allegedly defrauding customers and employees in each State. It’s really too bad that they are not honest as the Luscombe LSA was the only LSA I would consider buying.

NO AIRLINE PILOT SHORTAGE

2 VASTLY DIFFERENT GROUPS OF GA PILOTS 

AND 

WHAT’S THE FUTURE FOR GENERAL AVIATION

I have written in the past about the slow demise of General Aviation (GA). My thoughts have not changed. 

I believe there are 2 types of GA pilots. One is the recreational pilot like myself that travels for pleasure. I’m based at Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (DVT) the busiest GA airport in the world. The reason for this is that DVT has one of the biggest flight schools in the country, TransPac. Without TransPac DVT would drop tremendously in operations. The same applies for other GA airports based in the Vally that have large flight schools training foreign pilots.

DVT T hangar wait list used to be over 5 years and now it is a matter of a few months to acquire a T Hangar. The recreational pilots I know are getting old. People are retired and are on fixed incomes. With this comes loss of medicals and less flying due to expense of fuel and maintenance. When people are flying less they do not maintain their proficiency as a pilot. I have a friend that owns 2 airplanes, one being a twin, and flew a total of 40 hours last year. 

Recreational flying is expensive and young people on the whole do not have the discretionary income to take up flying. They leave school with large debts and have to get by with regular living expenses.

Pilots in recreational flying usually own the older planes in the fleet which averages over 40 years of age. I fly a 59 year old V Tail Bonanza.

The second category of pilot is the one who mostly flies for business and has various tax write offs to help defray costs. Also in this group are people who made it good at a young age in life. These are the people that can afford the new Cirrus’s, Corvallis’s and Mirages. They are in the minority of GA pilots. 

As the GA pilot population decline, airports that don’t have large flight schools are going to start closing because they can not be financially maintained. FBO’s will fall by the wayside.

AIRLINE PILOT SHORTAGE

I hear it everyday listening to podcast and aviation blogs that their is going to be a major shortage of airline and corporate pilots. In August the new FAA rules go into effect for airlines that all first officers (FO’s) must have 1500 hours and an ATP. 

The other supposition is that there are going to be a lot of airline pilots turning 65 this year and facing forced retirement. There is talk of raising the retirement age to 67 to help aid airlines against mass retirements.

There are 2 reasons I don’t think we will be facing a pilot shortage in the near future. A lot of furloughed pilots are out there that have been unable to find work. These people will help fill the pipeline for retiring pilots. The retiring airline pilots will be able to continue to fill the void in corporate flight departments.

To fly for the airforce requirement is a 10 year commitment. Most of these pilots are resigning for a second ten year term. This will allow them to receive full retirement from the service. These pilots will be in their early 40’s when leaving the service and can start a second career with the airlines.

I believe that if a shortage of airline pilots is imminent that the airlines will petition the FAA to fly single pilot on the flight deck. With todays automation in new airliners I perceive this to be a possibility in the future. Overseas flights might operate with 2 pilots for takeoff and landing and 1 pilot for cruise.

I think that those who are going to be hit the hardest with these new regulations are the Regional Airlines. Most of the FO’s start with 250 hours and will loose their jobs due to the lack of 1500 hours and ATP which starts in August.

I really don’t know how someone can afford to accumulate 1500 hours financially. Starting pay in Regionals is so low that one can almost qualify for food stamps. The Military requirement will be 750 hours and University Flight schools 1000 hours. Unless the airlines go back as they did in the 60’s and start training and paying pilots to train, I don’t see any alternative to not have single pilot flight deck. Only time will tell.