Chapter 21

Mornings are always my favorite because the air smells so fresh and it seems the world is just waiting for you to run through the air to get your body ready for the day. I only ran for about forty minutes and came back to the patio as Steve turned on the lights. I had a mug of coffee with him and Glenda before going in to clean up and be ready for some flight duty.

I was having a breakfast sandwich when Diego called me. He gave me a telephone number in California to call for a flight from Hollywood to the resort. Diego told me to wait to call after eight o’clock their time, which would be eleven our time. It was going to take five hours plus a refueling stop to get out there, so if they said to come at eleven, I wouldn’t get there until five this evening and I wouldn’t want to fly all the way to Costa Rica without a good night’s sleep. They hopefully didn’t want to make a mad dash. I’d already looked it up and it would take about seven plus hours in the air to get to Limon from LA. This was going to be an expensive flight.

I was going to wait for eleven to call but Betty called from the airpark and asked if I could take a passenger to Phoenix, Arizona. Of course I could, and that would put me near LA if the customer for the resort wanted to hire me.

Betty said the customer was on the way to the airpark, so I should hustle so that the customer wouldn’t have to wait. I drove to the airpark and my CJ was already out of the hangar. I did the exterior preflight and had just finished when the customer went into the charter office. I was surprised when the man going to Phoenix was the same man I had given an introductory flight to yesterday. He told me, “My wife is going with me and should be here in a minute. She had to wait for a taxi.”

He asked if there was anything I could do to get the aircraft ready so that we could get out of there faster as he had an emergency meeting out there. I told him to watch for his wife and I would do the pre-start and spool the right engine up. I had just spooled it up when I saw the woman pulling a bag to the aircraft.

I think they were surprised at how luxurious it was when they entered the aircraft. I shut the door and made sure they were buckled up. I showed the man the communications desk and he said this made the cost of this flight worth it.

I finished starting the left engine and was asking for taxi instructions while watching the engines come up to power. I made sure everything was in the green as I entered the field information and the destination stuff into the Flight Control system. I called a flight plan in and opened it as I taxied to the end of the runway. We were given an immediate takeoff clearance and took off turning west northwest on the way to Phoenix.

I used the PA and told the customer that I could direct them on how to make coffee if they wanted some, and that bottles of water were in the refrigerator if they wanted one. I was watching the video monitor and neither acted like they wanted anything. Both were sitting back and were going to take a nap. I could see that I was going to have to consider a hostess. Most customers might feel the cost of a private jet for three thousand miles might not be that much, but we’re talking a lot of fuel and the maintenance per hour cost that had to be figured in. A flight crew is a cost factor, and the more people involved, the more it would cost. That was going to be expensive. A co-pilot could chase coffee or drinks if I had one, but that would be even more expensive. I was going to have to spend some time with DeDe to get a better handle on what I intended on doing.

This operation needed a business plan. My original intended customers were super affluent and shouldn’t hesitate to pay the cost of a private jet. Would they be willing to pay even more for a hostess? Would they be willing to pay for the security of a second pilot? They probably wouldn’t really care if it was properly proposed. Adding two people to the payroll would be a huge chunk of money, but I could see where it would add to the professionalism of the operation. An aircraft this nice should have a hostess and probably a second pilot. The CJ4 was easy to fly single pilot, and would be even simpler with a second set of eyes and hands. Having a hostess would give us the opportunity to have coffee or a soft drink on demand. A hostess could allow us to have a meal on board for a customer if they wanted to have something on a long flight. These weren’t a bunch of Jarheads who knew they had to wait. These were the pampered and the ‘I want it now’ crowd.

This project was taking on an entirely different look. I could do all the things I was thinking about, but I needed to figure out the costs and find the people. A second pilot could be someone trying to get hours and enjoy being paid. That would probably mean two second pilot type people. A hostess could be anyone looking to supplement their family income or to make some money to do something different, so there could be a fairly high turnover.

Employees were expensive as I had to contribute to their Social Security, Medicare, and maybe their health insurance. Well, maybe they could qualify as “independent contractors”, though the feds are supposed to be cracking down on that. I would be responsible if they had to wear uniforms. They would have to stay in a decent hotel if we had to stay overnight, and I would have to pay for that instead of sleeping on the plane. DeDe and Tiny must discuss and cuss this stuff by the hour every day. I’d already been on flights when I had to stay overnight with other flight crew members. There was no bunkroom or doubling in a single room. We’re talking single rooms for each of the crew.

I knew that I had a lot to learn before I could and would be comfortable with our pricing structure and how to propose that a customer really pay their way as I lined up on final in Phoenix.

I think my soft landings earned me a lot of mention when the customers got off the plane. I thanked each one as they departed. The woman said, “You made us feel very good today. My husband is terrified of airplane travel. Knowing how thorough you were yesterday told us that we were going to be safe today. Thank you.”

I smiled at the lady and thanked her for the compliment. I watched them become a part of the heavy people traffic at the airport.

I had to ask to remain at the General Aviation terminal so that I could call the California customer. The customer said that they could be picked up at Bob Hope Burbank Airport any time, but I needed to notify them at least a half hour before we were ready to depart.

I told the customer that I should probably take my required rest period before we departed. I explained we would be traveling by way of Mexico City. They didn’t like the idea of flying through Mexico. The female half of the customer became nearly inflamed until I suggested that they travel commercial. She then settled down but insisted that we meet at a different remote airfield before they got on board. She promised a smooth field with JP4, so I accepted her coordinates.

I tried to find the airfield she gave me on the Jeppesen charts before going through my startup checklist. Nothing. I keyed the coordinates in and still nothing. I called the customer again and told them the field wasn’t listed on the charts, so I wanted to meet at the Burbank Airport. The guy was acting nervous and then the wife got on the phone and was being extremely abusive that I couldn’t follow simple directions to come to the location she gave me. I told the lady, “I think you should fly commercial. I have rules to live by, and you’re wanting me to break a security rule. Consider our agreement canceled and I will have your credit card reimbursed. Enjoy ‘Island Paradise’ when you get there.”

I called the charter desk and advised the person there that I was canceling the fare from Hollywood to the island because of a disagreement. I was going to take a two hour nap, and then fly home. They could call me if another fare came up as I would be within cell range while at the airport in Phoenix.

The customer’s wife called back and was trying to apologize for her rudeness, but still insisted that I go to this unknown airfield. It should be listed if there was a decent runway and they had fuel, as Jeppesen shows every public and private field in the country. I told the lady not to call back as I was going to take a nap before continuing. She wanted to know where I was, but I just told her that I was secure where I was. She hung up. That was really strange.

I woke after a two hour nap and stretched. I did something I don’t usually do. I took my keys and locked the aircraft before going to the operations building to use the restroom. I vowed to myself that I would do this from now on as I didn’t want to take the chance that someone could attempt to steal my plane. It only took a minute to secure the aircraft, so it wasn’t a waste of time.

The General Aviation Terminal has a small snack shop with some premade sandwiches. I bought a tuna salad and a bottle of V-8, and ate at one of the tables that had a view of the tarmac in front of operations. I was really having a problem with the way that woman was acting. I would think they were going to try to steal the aircraft and resell it somewhere if I didn’t know that it would be a crazy thing to do. I wonder if planes and pilots turn up missing sometimes. I would ask Jan and Chuck, because I was more than curious now. A single pilot aircraft could be valuable for smuggling and it would be fairly easy to overpower or kill the pilot to get an eight million dollar aircraft. There’s another reason to have a second pilot. What I needed was a gun, but I couldn’t carry one on the airplane because I wouldn’t always be in compliance with a state’s laws. I wonder how the airlines are handling that with their flight officers carrying or possessing a weapon. More questions for Jan and Chuck.

Okay, I was rested, fed, fueled up, and the only place to go was home. I thought I should call Diego so that he would know I had a verbal altercation with a customer. It took some effort to get him to the phone, but I advised him of what happened. He asked me for the telephone number I had, and said that it didn’t match what he had. He also said the reservation was from a family with a little bit different spelling, as the man was a well-known movie director. Then he said, “Their request for a private flight is for tomorrow morning, not today.” The mystery deepens. I wrote the information from Diego down, and then called the charter desk back. Betty answered this time and I gave her the entire story as she looked up the credit card payment. She came back to the phone and said, “We have two payments. One from the name you have now, and another from a slightly different name. That person used an American Express debit card that won’t take refunds. I’m going to give all this information to the FBI, because this is all interstate stuff and should be followed up on. Do you feel comfortable to fly the real customer?”

I will know when I meet them. I’m going to call to confirm when and where I will meet them. I can fly into Burbank and park there overnight. I’ll use my electric razor and be fairly fresh looking in the morning. I have an extra shirt with me if this one begins to look or smell bad.

The customer sounded excited to be going to the resort and was happy to know that I wasn’t going to try to fly beyond my aircraft’s range. He had asked for the Bob Hope Airport and I told him I would have the airplane ready for him at eight AM as requested. It was just up and down from Phoenix to Burbank. I topped the fuel off, paid the airport fees, grabbed my overnight bag, locked the Citation up, and took a shuttle to a nearby Holiday Inn. I ate a decent meal at a small steak house next door that seemed pricey, but this was California. I even had a drink. I was in bed before ten with a wakeup call set for five.

I was refreshed and ready for the day. This would be about six to seven hours flying, but that shouldn’t be a problem considering that we would be stopping in Mexico City. I had some of the courtesy breakfast and took an extra banana with me along with a foam cup of coffee. I had left the aircraft plugged in to ground power so that the icemaker would still be working and the fridge would still be cool without draining the batteries.

I took the shuttle back to the operations building and was going to go out to the aircraft. There was a Suburban out by the plane with three men standing around the car. After the strange situation yesterday, I was concerned. There was a local policeman talking to a uniformed airport security guard. I walked up to them and introduced myself and gave the two the whole story. The security guard said, “I’ll bet it’s that same group. Can you get some back up out here quick?”

The policeman used his lapel microphone and called in. He was instructed to use his cell phone to talk to the detective unit. He made the call and asked for backup at Bob Hope Airport and was told units would be on their way. It was now six thirty, and my customer was going to be here in an hour and a half. I sure didn’t want them to be involved in something nasty.

The security guard told me there had been aircraft stolen or hijacked with a couple of pilots still missing. I was glad that I didn’t try to be a big shot and not be able to defend myself.

A guy with his badge on a lanyard around his neck came up to us ten minutes later, and we were able to point out where the men were next to my Citation. The man used a walkie-talkie to direct some others I couldn’t see, and then had another man that was about my size take my overnight sport bag and begin walking out to the aircraft. I watched as the man casually walked out toward the plane. There suddenly were three men now waiting on the other side of the Suburban, and one walking out to meet the man going to the plane. You could see the tension as the detective stopped and was waving his arms arguing and then the three came from behind the car and began walking to the two men.

Ta da! Here come the cops. I think it was six cars and a van that came roaring out to the airplane surrounding everything. The men from the Suburban acted like they might put up a fight, and then just stood perfectly still as men with rifles came from the van and ran up on them. Another man was pulled from the Suburban’s driver’s seat and five men were now lying face down on the concrete being handcuffed and searched. A small prisoner bus had five new occupants, and a flatbed truck was loading the Suburban by seven o’clock. The first detective that had come inside walked back to the terminal carrying my overnight case. The guy said, “We think this group is responsible for two other small jets that have been hijacked and two pilots that are missing.” I gave the man the number of the people who had talked to me yesterday so they could possibly track them down. I also gave them the coordinates of the location they wanted me to land at.

I asked if I could get the aircraft ready for a trip, and he shook my hand and waved me on to my bird. I was thorough this morning and very carefully went over the plane, but figured they wouldn’t sabotage an aircraft they wanted to fly out of there quickly. I’d bet that they set up an observer to watch for a single pilot plane that matched the description they had.

I opened the cabin door and started the APU so that I could disconnect ground power and cool the aircraft down. It was already climbing toward seventy-five. I used my phone to file an international flight plan and put the required checkpoints in to fly over Mexican, Guatemalan, El Salvadoran, and Nicaraguan airspace above twenty-thousand feet. It took forever for the flight plan to be accepted and I was assigned to twenty-eight thousand feet from Mexico City to Costa Rica. I wrote the flight plan number down so that I would have it and had just put my sport coat on and stepped out of the aircraft when a limo pulled up.

A nice looking man, a very nice looking lady in shorts and a tank top, a young guy in his teens, and a girl who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen came from the limo. I was concerned about luggage, but the limo driver pulled two large suitcases and two small ones from the trunk and slid them into the cargo hold. I placed the net over the bags to keep them from shifting, and then helped everyone onto the plane. I explained that I didn’t travel with a hostess, so I needed to show them how to use the single serve coffeemaker. I showed them all where the ice was, along with the soft drinks. I showed the adults where the small bottles of beverages were, how to use the communications desks, and where the small private restroom was. The kids were excited that they could access the internet, and more so when I said the aircraft had Wi-Fi that would come up when we were at altitude. There was also a selection of movies and video games to enjoy the ride.

The man couldn’t get over how luxurious the aircraft was. I did lean down to the young lady and said, “I would be eternally grateful if you were to make me a cup of coffee after a while.”

I announced that there was no significant weather all the way, so they should be comfortable but they should keep their seatbelts loosely buckled when they were sitting. With the door shut and the locking bar in place, I sat in the cockpit and began going through the checklist. I felt a presence behind me and turned to see the young man. I said, “You must be seated during takeoff and climb to our assigned altitude. You can sit in this right seat and be my co-pilot if you want.”

After getting him buckled up with a headset on, I went back to the checklist and went right through spool up and the request for taxi instructions. Business aircraft were queued up to takeoff at eight in the morning, so we were following a line of small jets and other light aircraft. I advised my passengers they would feel the G-force of our acceleration as we took off when we were granted takeoff clearance. I poured the power on to climb out and up to our assigned altitude. I confirmed our international flight plan was opened and we were at altitude deep in Mexico by that time.

The young man figured out to use the intercom button, and asked, “How come you have to use a list of things to do if you fly this airplane a lot?”

I explained that it was a way for a pilot to make sure he’s checked each item to keep the aircraft safe. The plane could get into trouble if I were to forget and didn’t check something important. I use a checklist for all aircraft whenever I fly them. I even told him the story that I had heard from one of my instructors that pilot checklists came into use in response to the destruction of the prototype for what became the World War II B-17 bomber, which was incredibly advanced and complex for the mid-1930s when it was first introduced, because the test pilot, not having a checklist to remind him, failed to remove some control locks before taking off. He’d seen video of the B-17 on the History Channel and was properly impressed.

The kid asked questions all the way to Mexico City. His sister had brought me a mug of coffee in one of the resort mugs I had swiped from Steve. The boy was surprised the controllers all spoke English, broken but understandable English, when we landed. I told him that it was the international aviation language standard. The family went to the private operations building to use their restrooms while I refueled. A Customs man came to the aircraft and looked at the luggage in the hold and checked my flight plan. I had my passport in my flight bag, but he waved it off. He told me in Spanish, ‘You don’t look like smugglers with a family like that’.

The four came back with some kind of food wrapped in a tortilla for me. I was told that I would like it because it had a little kick. We stood outside the aircraft eating the food and drinking a soft drink. The boy told his dad, “I can begin learning to fly at fifteen next year, but I can’t get a license until I’m seventeen. You could even hire our pilot to teach me. He’s an instructor.”

The dad was clever and just said, “We’ll see how your grades are. Keep them up the way you have and you can fly.”

The girl asked, “Can I ride up front now? It would be neat to see how all those buttons and switches work.”

The boy said he would watch a movie and went to a seat at the rear.

I did the exterior check while everyone was getting on the aircraft, and then got on board and locked up. I was going through the checklist again and the girl was chattering away. I told her, “Let me finish prepping the aircraft and getting it spooled up, and then we’ll talk. I need to pay attention until we get off the ground and to 10,000 feet.”

She blushed, but sat there watching my every move. I called for taxi instructions and was second after a big Airbus. Takeoff was smooth and our climb out was perfect. I had made sure to reopen the flight plan and was given clearance to fly through all the southern countries’ airspace.

I showed the girl how to wear the headset and the intercom button. She asked most of the same questions the boy had asked when she had the head set on. I think they didn’t understand the importance of the checklist and how important it can be in identifying a potential problem, although the bomber story seemed to impress them a little.