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The couple began considering buy- ing a plane because of the inconve- nience they experienced during this trip. After all, Bob could fly it. Al- though he had been out of the cockpit for some time, he was ready to knock the rust off and soon purchased a 2014 Cessna 206T.
“He went to get his medical and had to wait because he had gotten a stent a few years prior. And we were already getting this plane. So, he’s like, ‘Well, why don’t you try to get your license, Rachel? I mean, you should learn how to land it anyway.’ That’s how it started. And I did not like it. It took me about 17 hours before I decided I actually liked flying,” she recalled.
In front of their Turbo Stationair, on the ramp at Lake County Airport (KLXV) in Leadville, Colorado
The Andersons’ TBM 850 on the ramp at Airport (MMSL), where they flew to with
Rachel and Bob began f lying to- gether shortly after she earned her PPL in 2016.
“Ironically, my medical came in the same week that Rachel got her license. When she got into the TBM, Rachel had around 375 hours. So, she needed 50 mentor hours on top of transition training. We were probably the only aircraft owners in America whose insurance dropped
Rachel in front of the TBM, which is powered by a
1,825 horsepower PT6A-66D. While training for a Cabo San Lucas International bodybuilding competition, she would routinely fly
their friends to Mobile, Alabama to visit her trainer.
by $15,000 in the first couple of years [of ownership] as Rachel flew more,” Bob said.
Bob has logged roughly 2,000 hours in the TBM (2,600 hours total), and about 70 percent of Rachel’s 1,000 hours have been spent in the single- engine turboprop.
“I fly probably twice as much as Rachel. When we get to fly together, we are a good team, and I usually
let her fly. For example, if we go to Mexico, I’ll do all the paperwork, and she will fly.”
The couple frequents several other destinations, including popular resort enclaves in Mexico. The TBM 850 displays an attractive mix of speed, range, and economics for the Ander- sons’ typical missions.
“Bob was flying the plane a lot, all over the country with my son, who
August 2024 / TWIN & TURBINE • 11