Circling Back to the Piper Navajo

by Jim Lum, Owner-Pilot

Above: My stepdaughter, Katie, and her husband, Drew and their son, Jake.

We have been receiving Twin & Turbine for the last 11 years since we purchased our Piper Navajo in May 2010. During the 10 years prior to that, we owned two Piper Aztecs, an E model and an F model. These aircraft represent a full circle in my professional aviation life.

My introduction to aviation began at birth. My father was a “new hire” DC-3 co-pilot for Capital Airlines in 1956. He had spent the previous six years flying PBY’s, PBM’s and the B-17 for the Coast Guard. I know what your thinking – the Coast Guard didn’t have B-17’s, but they did. They put a spotter in the nose turret and used the airplane for long-range, over-water search missions. United Airlines and Capital merged in 1961, and my dad finished his airline career as a B-747 Captain, flying the Pacific for United. His Airline Transport Pilot Certificate was two separate cards because he had more type ratings than could fit on one.

I officially began flying lessons at age 15, soloed at 16, then floundered along for the next few years, more interested in girls and pole vaulting than flying. By age 20, I got my act together and was flight instructing while finishing up my Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Aviation. After graduation in May of 1979, I got a job hauling canceled checks up and down the east coast in a Piper Aztec. I was thrilled! Then, two weeks later, they put a Piper Navajo on my run. I could not wipe the grin off my face. The day after turning 23, I took my ATP checkride in one of the company Aztecs. I was then moved to the people-carrying side of the business, still flying the Navajo. Fast forward 33 years to March 27, 2013, and I am making my retirement flight for TWA/American Airlines as a Boeing 757/767 Captain. My wife, Dixie, was on board sitting in first class and got to witness the water cannon salute as we taxied to our gate in St. Louis. I will admit, as I turned the corner and saw the two fire trucks on the ramp, my eyes watered up. Confident that I had made the right decision and with no regrets to this day, it was still emotional.

Airline flying is an interesting gig. The hours are sometimes long and crazy. Commuting from DCA/IAD to JFK and later STL, which I did my entire time with TWA and AA, can be stressful and exhausting. However, one great part of airline flying is “time off” – a lot of it. Some pilots enjoy leisure activities on their days off, some develop parallel careers. I have flown alongside doctors, dentists and attorneys, not to mention many others that ran small businesses on the side. My side gig was real estate, primarily residential rental property, with a little commercial real estate as well. I bought my first piece of rental property in 1981 and I was hooked. I also purchased my first home that year for $42,000 with an FHA loan of 17.1 percent interest – ouch! I have spent the last 40 years buying and fixing up rental property, mostly as long-term, buy and hold investments. When Dixie and I married and blended our families, we decided to grow our business and it became her full-time job. We manage the properties ourselves, with the help of two outstanding maintenance employees and a lot of good subs.

So, when we began looking for a personal/business travel airplane, we naturally gravitated to what was familiar. There was a Piper Aztec for sale from the same person we had purchased a Tri-Pacer from a couple of years earlier. The seller took back the Tri-Pacer in the deal and we became proud owners of our first twin. We loved it and flew the heck out of it. A lot of our trips are to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina for vacation and to work on property we own there. Ocracoke is the southernmost inhabited island of the Outer Banks. It is only accessible by ferry, private boat, or airplane. It is part of a three-airport system operated by the National Park Service. There is First Flight (FFA) in Kitty Hawk (Wright Brothers fame), Billy Mitchell (HSE) on Hatteras and Ocracoke (W95). All three runways are 3,000 feet, run NE to SW and have no fuel service (plan accordingly!). We also use our plane to visit family in Florida, Louisiana and Texas. We flew to Oshkosh for the 50th anniversary and just did Sun-n-Fun in April.

Our next purchase was a 1977 turbo-charged F-model, which we enjoyed for several years. Unfortunately, the F-model was totaled at 3 a.m. one morning while sitting on the maintenance ramp by a not-so-sober line boy driving a big airport truck. He ran into the right wing, just aft of the engine, then obviously panicked and backed into the stabilator. He was fired before sunrise. This was early spring of 2009. The United States was in a full-blown recession. We were deep into real estate and our vacancy rate was skyrocketing. It was time to hunker down in order to save our business. The insurance money for the Aztec was a godsend. We sold equipment we could do without and I picked up extra flying at the airline.

We put off replacing the Aztec for over a year. In the spring of 2010, we were slowly on our way out of the great recession and the hunt was on. While looking for another Aztec in Trade-a-Plane and Controller, we decided to also look at Navajos. I found a 1969 Navajo (PA31-310) with the full Colemill Panther conversion. The original (310 hp) engines were replaced with zero time 350 hp engines during the Panther conversion and only had 165 hours on them, with 1,800-hour TBO’s. Winglets, four-bladed Q-tip props, and heavy-duty brakes were also part of the conversion. As if God was looking out for us, and he was, the airplane had been repossessed from the California owner and ferried to Hanover Airport, just north of Richmond, Virginia – a short distance from our home in Winchester. I was in the maintenance shop seeking the advice of my mechanic about purchasing an older Navajo and told him we were headed down to Hanover on Friday to look at one. He said he was going to be at the Hanover Airport on Friday. The stars were aligning.

We met that Friday – Dixie, me, my mechanic and the broker. The broker said there was someone trying to lowball the bank. Tired of dealing with the other person, he told us matter of fact how low the bank would go. My mechanic looked it over, looked at the logbooks and gave it two thumbs up. I asked him about the price and whether we should buy it. He said, “If you don’t, I am.” He said we were basically paying for the engines and the airplane was included for free. Done deal! About three weeks later, after a thorough pre-buy and subsequent annual inspection, I flew it home to Winchester (KOKV). We were now proud owners of a “cabin-class” twin and new members of the Twin & Turbine family.

Our Navajo was and is the perfect airplane for us. We could pack all five of our children in it comfortably. Flights are usually Dixie, me and a dog or five (three Labs and two Yorkies). Our children and their families are scattered along the East coast within easy striking distance for the Navajo. Our neighbors recently joined us for a long weekend in Bar Harbor, Maine – an easy mission for the Navajo. We removed the two back seats (it takes five minutes to re-install them) for additional cargo and dog space. The airplane is stable and a joy to fly. The systems are simple and straightforward. I spent several years as a new hire flight engineer and first officer on the Lockheed L-1011 with TWA. The L-1011 was known as an “old man’s airplane” because it was so easy to operate and fly. The Navajo is an old man’s airplane. The airplane burns 36 gallons per hour in cruise (10,000 to 12,000 feet MSL) at 65 percent power, 190 to 195 knots TAS. The airplane has a built-in oxygen system, but we rarely use it. Although the Navajo burns more fuel per hour than the Aztec, we more than make up for it with the extra speed, not to mention the increase in available payload.
Since the purchase, we have added a Garmin 430W GPS/Nav/Com, JPI 760 engine analyzer, Garmin G600 instrument panel and ADS-B In and Out. We are getting ready to replace the original autopilot, which still works, with the new Garmin GFC-600. We have been waiting for Garmin to get the STC for the Navajo fleet and now they have it.

I started my airline career flying the Navajo and hope to spend the rest of my general aviation years doing the same. The thought just makes me smile!