Non Pilot- Looking to purchase my first Plane
I am seriously looking to purchase a Piper Navajo. I am not a Pilot but I am a Licensed Boat Captain and run my own vessel all over the east coast and the Bahamas. I have homes in PA, Cape May NJ, and Jupiter Fl. My question is to ask how difficult is it to hire a day Pilot to fly my family and I around from different locations. I have found a hangar outside the Philadelphia PA area and have found a hangar in Stuart Florida. Plan is to keep plane in PA while flying weekly to Cape May NJ and deadheading the plane back to PA(1) hour flight. I would move the plane to Florida in the Winter.
I have a plan but no pilot and I really don't want a full time pilot. Can anyone shed some light on hiring day or multi day pilots for this plane.
Thank you in advance for your response.
Scott H.
Comments
Cape May... Reminds me of green heads. Even the dog did not want to go outside.
Perhaps start with the local flight schools to see if there are any instructors who are available and qualified. Reason for the focus on a flight school instructor is that chances are good the individual is building flight time toward an airline job and looking for ways to build that time. Some flight schools limit their instructors' external opportunities, so this is just another factor to navigate.
Regarding the actual pilot role, might consider having a pool of available individuals in both the northern and southern locations. Reasoning is that this will increase the opportunity of executing a flight rather than running into schedule conflicts and no-go from illness with a limited pool. And presuming the pool will come from the local flight instructors, any given individual is at risk of switching jobs to a regional or major airline which further complicates the availability.
To the qualified part. Chances are good that insurance will require minimum flight time in the exact (key word) model of aircraft along with minimums in other areas. If any pilot does not meet the minimum time for the exact model of Navajo and all of the other minimums, then insurance will require going the named insured route which opens the door for increased premiums presuming the insurer will cover the pilot. Am not the best expert on the insurance piece, so might consider calling a small charter operation and ask whether they are willing to discuss their insurance landscape as it applies to this mission goal.
To the larger picture, if not already part of the purchase decision tree, might consider looking into going the charter route rather than owning the plane and doing a self charter operation. Reasoning is that a charter company will proactively focus on maintenance and handling the pilot staffing which is a job by itself. Yes, going the charter route is probably more expensive per hour than owning the plane and paying for a pilot, but it still takes time to coordinate planning of everything that needs to happen in order to fly the plane. Once factoring all the soft money (time) and downtime to maintenance (both planned and unplanned), a charter starts looking comparable to owning and operating for a non-pilot.
Another tangent to the charter route is hiring a charter company to handle the administration of your plane. I know a couple pilots where their sole job was operation of the charter company, fly around the aircraft owners in the respective owner's plane, and maintenance of the planes.
Excellent information and Advice. I really appreciate the insight
Scott,
We routinely fly from Boston down to Cape May for the Naval Air Station museum (featuring a large collection of PIPERS back issues), Congress Hall, and Washington Market.
Operating a Navajo safely, successfully, and cost-effectively will depend on your ability to assemble and lead a strong team. Being a captain and owning a maritime business gives you a huge advantage, as you probably have a lot of experience doing this already. Your Navajo team will consist of multiple simulator-current pilots located up and down the coast, multiple mechanics who are Navajo experts and attended Piper Twin school, Insurance and Avionics experts, and all the people who manage and operate the airports you frequent.
The role of flight schools has changed dramatically over the 30 years I’ve been flying. Here in Massachusetts we used to have ten schools with robust multiengine training programs. Now most of the schools have closed, and the few remaining ones have eliminated their multiengine programs to concentrate on private-pilot-only training. As a consequence, they no longer staff multiengine instructors or mechanics. And it’s not just in Massachusetts. The manager at Flight Level Aviation (the FBO in Cape May) is currently on leave to pursue multiengine training in Florida. Why Florida? Because he couldn’t find a school in south Jersey. The majority of charter operations don’t inspire a whole lot of confidence, either.
But it’s not all bad news. I know quite a few retired or semi-retired military and airline captains who are highly competent, simulator current, and easy to insure. You’ll find other Navajo owners will gladly advise you which mechanics and pilots to recruit and which to avoid. And your Florida base will help you source a large number of both pilots and mechanics, because after all, south Florida is the Mecca of aviation. I wouldn’t be surprised if you end up conducting your annual inspections and any heavy maintenance there, and flying pilots up when your PA/NJ team isn’t available.
Good luck, and let us know how you make out.
Bob
Bob,
Thank you for your thoughtful insight.
Enjoy yourself and your family
Scott H.