|
Transportation
Taking Wing — Contractors as Pilots
Contractors who fly their own planes to distant jobsites claim it saves them time and money and increases productivity
(constructor.construction.com - May/June 2006 issue)
By Tom
Nicholson
Whether it is upgrading equipment, branching
out to learn new skills or breaking into new markets, every
constructor has some strategy for business growth. For Bill
Cross, a developer based in St. Charles, Mo., aiming higher
in business meant becoming a pilot.
 |
 |
| Bill
Cross, owner of Cross Development Co., is a contractor
who earned his wings. (Courtesy of AOPA) |
|
"I got my pilot's license about
six years ago," says Cross, owner of Cross Development
Co. and Cross Homes and Associates. "Being a pilot has
allowed me to expand my business beyond what I could have
done without being able to fly."
Cross is among a growing number of contractors
and other business owners who found that enrolling in flight
training school, getting a pilot's license and eventually
purchasing an airplane allowed them to expand their business
into new geographic areas that would have remained outside
their reach if they were still grounded.
"I am doing a development project
in Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., which is about 200 miles away
from our office, and I can fly there in 25 minutes. I can
get in the plane and be on the jobsite in the morning, take
care of business and be back by lunchtime. If I couldn't fly,
this is a project I would never have even considered doing."
"The number of business people
who are getting pilots' licenses is increasing," says
Kathleen Vasconcelos, spokeswoman for the Aircraft Owners
and Pilots Association, Washington, D.C. "One big reason
is that they need to save time, and airports are increasingly
congested. The other reason is that flying commercial may
not get them exactly where they need to go."
According to AOPA, there are nearly
20,000 airports in the nation, but only 3% of them are accessed
by commercial aircraft. "About 70% of flights are out
of the 30 airline hubs in the nation," Vasconcelos says.
"That means many times they have to rent a car or stay
overnight after flying commercial."
|
Getting Off the Ground
Getting started in aviation
and enrolling in a flight-training program is easier
than many may think. While it does take an investment
of time and money, the skills and knowledge needed are
readily obtainable.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots
Association's Project Pilot, an educational program
designed to make aviation more accessible to the general
public, offers introductory fight lessons at airports
around the nation for those who want to give it a try.
At the AOPA Web site (www.aopa.org),
there is a wealth of information about where and how
to get started.
Many airports across the nation
have flight-training schools where a private pilot's
license can be earned. Program lengths and details vary,
but two types of schools established under Federal Aviation
Administration regulations are Part 61 or Part 141 schools.
Under Part 61 regulations,
FAA requires a minimum of 20 hours of flight training
for a sport pilot's certificate, 30 hours of flight
training for a recreational certificate and 40 hours
of flight training for a private pilot's license. Part
61 schools offer flexible training schedules and may
tailor curriculum to meet students' needs.
Part 141 schools operate under
more rigid schedules, have more paperwork and provide
more FAA oversight during training. The additional work
allows a private pilot's license to be earned with a
minimum of 35 hours of training. But many pilots say
you should expect to invest between 50 and 70 hours
of flight training to be proficient enough to earn your
wings. Some people can accomplish this in a matter of
months, but others may take a year or more to finish
their training.
Contractors can deduct much
of the investment on their taxes. According to AOPA,
this includes expenses for training, and expenses incurred
while using the plane for business.
The average cost of pilot-license
training is about $7,500. Renting a plane can cost anywhere
from $60 an hour to more than $80 per hour, depending
on the size of the aircraft and other factors.
|
Branching Out
Roger Lucas, vice president of Land
and Co., a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based contracting firm, finished
flight school in January. After starting a 616-home development
in Orlando, Fla., last year, Lucas logged countless hours
on commercial flights between Michigan and Florida, made more
difficult because of connections.
"There is no direct flight from
Grand Rapids to Orlando any more," Lucas says. "We
had to go through Chicago and hope we made the connecting
flight. It was a pain in the neck."
Already an airplane owner with a big
interest in aviation, Lucas says the daunting cross-country
commutes spurred him to look into getting his own pilot's
license. In November, during downtime as the development project
got off the ground, he enrolled in the American Flyers flight
training program at Kissimmee Airport. By January, he had
earned his private pilot's license.
"I really enjoyed it," Lucas
says. "First, you go through ground school and then you
go up in a plane and learn how to fly it. The course requires
some study, but is probably no more difficult that getting
a builder's license."
Lucas now is enrolled in the school's instrument rating program,
which upon completion will allow him to fly a jet or turbo-prop
airplane capable of whisking him from Michigan to Florida
in as little as two hours. Lucas owns several small airplanes,
but says the 1,000-mile trip requires a faster plane, which
he plans to purchase after earning his instrument certification.
With an instrument rating, pilots learn
to fly and navigate solely by the craft's instruments, enabling
travel in less-than-perfect weather. "Getting the instrument
rating has been tougher, and at first there was so much information
to learn it was like rolling a rock uphill," Lucas says.
"But it's gotten easier, and I will finish in the next
couple of months."
Lucas says he has invested between $7,000
and $10,000 in his pilot's training, which he thinks is a
reasonable investment for expanding his business opportunities.
"For me, being able to fly is a matter of doing business,"
he explains. "There just isn't enough work to keep us
going in the Grand Rapids area, so I have had to start looking
outward, and I need to be able to fly to do that."
Rent-a-Plane
Vasconcelos says renting a plane
is a viable option for those with a private pilot's license.
"A lot of airports have flight-training schools, so first
you need to go up with a flight instructor to demonstrate
that you can operate the plane before being able to rent it.
You don't need to own an airplane to make good use of your
license."
Although Lucas, like Cross, owns an
airplane, he says being able to pilot a rented airplane can
be a boon for contractors. "Earlier this month, we had
to go from Kissimmee to Tallahassee to complete some paperwork,"
he adds. "It would have involved eight hours of driving,
but instead, I was able to rent an airplane, fly there and
be back in two hours. Whether you purchase a plane or just
get a license and rent just depends how often you need to
fly and how far you need to go. I consider my pilot's license
a tool."
|
