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Taking Wing — Contractors As Pilots
Contractors who fly their own planes
to distant jobsites claim it saves them time and money and
increases productivity
By Tom Nicholson
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Bill Cross, owner of Cross Development
Co., is a contractor who earned his wings.
Courtesy of AOPA |
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.
"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.
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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."
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