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Recent territory expansion and increasing demands require PWI carry more salespeople and other personnel further, stretching the airplane’s capabilities.
“The pain points in the JetProp are strictly useful load and fuel. That’s my struggle. It’s basically me and full fuel if you are going by book num- bers. So, once I take anybody, I’m starting to shed fuel. That’s okay in certain examples, but now it’s reached a point where I need to put in four 200-pounders and go three and a half hours. I also don’t like landing without a lot of fuel.”
More range, without sacrificing passengers, initially sounded like the perfect role for a King Air Plotka thought. But after careful consider- ation, it was determined the King Air no longer fit the budget and the TBM 850 would be the right fit. While it sports one less engine and two less seats, the TBM 850 suits the mission profile nearly perfectly, in addition
to having a physical footprint that allows him to keep the plane in his current hangar.
Just like in his JetProp and earlier aircraft, the 53-year-old entrepreneur plans on continuing to have an inten- tional focus on recurrent training.
“Iflyalotandalsotrainalot.I don’t want to be the guy that flies him- self and creates bad habits because he can get away with it, thinks that okay, and now that is just standard. Last year, I bought my JetProp and went through my initial training. I had a 30-hour solo requirement and a 50-hour requirement to be able to take passengers and I did that in eight days. After getting my airplane back from the shop, I completed a whole other recurrent training with Casey Aviation plus went through a MMOPA mid-year training event with Joe Casey. I then went back for my annual recurrent and commercial training with Deanna Wallace and Joe in the plane. So, I went through
three recurrents and a new license in one year, as well as flying for work.” The cost of proper and continued training is negligible compared to the costs of an aircraft and its op- erating expenses, contends Plotka. Similarly, the reward of proficiency certainly outweighs the pitfalls of related expenses and the costs of in-
adequate preparation.
“I think that just because the in-
surance company says you are safe doesn’t make it so. Flying 300 hours a year is good, but more training and go- ing after more ratings is even better. I am currently getting my tailwheel endorsement and plan to also com- plete upset recovery training and get my seaplane rating. I want to build up enough time to go for my ATP. A multi-engine rating won’t help me unless I buy a twin.”
He concluded, “Continuing to train and push myself is crucial. To learn and grow is an important part of stay- ing proficient. And it’s fun too!”
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August 2022 / TWIN & TURBINE • 29