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Jet Journal
Cheap at Any Price
Our twin and turbine aircraft are expensive to operate, and I occasionally wonder if the extra cost is worth it. But recently, I had to return from a trip to Phoenix via the airlines that very quickly corrected any doubt I had about the value of the business aircraft we operate – and often take for granted. It is a story
that needs to be told more frequently.
It is a 2-hour and 15-minute trip from Seattle to Phoenix in the Lear 40, and we are scheduled to fly a customer and his family down there to watch the profes- sional baseball players winter practice. The customer and his five family mem- bers arrive at about 6 p.m. at our home base airport (KBVS – about 50 miles north of Seattle) after a short traffic-free drive from their home. It is already dark, but the Lear is out on the ramp, brightly lit by the building’s floodlights and with a red carpet already in place by the entry door. The airplane is connected to ex- ternal power; the cabin is nicely warm and smells of the coffee, which has just been freshly brewed in the small galley. A couple of bottles of expensive wine and high-quality champagne are cooling in the ice chest just under the cabinet contain- ing crystal glasses. The customer pulls his car right up to the airplane’s baggage door after passing through the controlled gate, and the ramp guys load up their stuff. The car then gets parked about 150 feet away where it will stay at no charge until they return. All six passengers board at their leisure then sit in their choice of wide, reclining leather seats, loosen their shoelaces and comfortably stretch out their legs. I close the airplane door then conduct a short safety brief, making sure to point out the bathroom.
Seven minutes later and we are air- borne, receiving our IFR clearance in the air, having made an expedited VFR departure from the non-towered airport. Twenty slightly bumpy minutes go by, and we cross the Columbia River southbound, topping out at FL410 where the moon is out and the air as smooth as glass. The seatbelt sign is turned off, and we can hear the wine and champagne bottles being opened and the slight tinkle of crystal as the passengers help themselves and settle in with their drink and selection of gourmet cheeses bought from a local sup- plier. Occasionally, they poke their heads into the cockpit to say hello and stare at the jet’s instrument display, the lighting of which we have turned down. With cloud tops in the mid-30s, the view forward at FL410 goes on forever and it is a beautiful night. Underneath us somewhere, we can hear airline traffic just below the tops and looking for a better ride.
An hour later, we are over Cedar City, Utah making a small dogleg from our filed direct routing in order to avoid the mili- tary airspace out to the west. Shortly after that, Salt Lake Center starts us down and clears us direct to the TENTS intersection, telling us to expect the BRUSR 1 arrival. The next controller clears us to descend via the published arrival but to keep the
speed up to 300 knots or greater for traffic sequencing. Not a problem for us as we are seeing 360 knots with the FMS predicting we will be arriving 10 minutes earlier than planned. I turn around in my seat and tell our passengers we will be landing in 20 minutes. They look both surprised and disappointed as from their point of view, the flight has been way too short. Besides, there is still some champagne in the bottle, cheese on the plate and they are having a pleasant conversation.
On our first call, Phoenix approach assigns us the ILS to 26 but we tell them we are going to Cutter Aviation on the airport’s southwest corner and request 25L. Not a problem they say, and change our vector slightly while I reprogram the FMS. We are 5 miles out on final and ask the controller if they have any traffic be- hind us. He says no, all the airline traffic is going into 26. We tell him we plan to land long and exit at the end to avoid a long taxi. “Approved” is his brief reply. Our landing goes smoothly and is not followed by any harsh braking or full reverse thrust as we let the Lear run out nearly to the end of 25L, making the H3 exit which is immediately adjacent to Cutter. We are still rolling through the exit when the tower clears us to the FBO and tells us to stay on his frequency. One-hundred
by Kevin Ware
16 • TWIN & TURBINE
February 2019