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he primarily f lies his aircraft for business purposes but occasionally uses the airplane for personal use, which has included family vacations to North Carolina, Florida, Maine and Oregon.
Another reason to f ly presented itself with the addition of J.T. Meleck Distillers, his portfolio’s newest company. J.T. Meleck Distillers uses the same family-grown Louisiana rice that the crawfish feed upon and turns it into vodka. The company is another way that Frugé has been able to vertically integrate their crop into new opportunities and reduce waste. When he first had the idea to distill the farm’s leftover grain into spirits, he flew the JetPROP to distilleries and various trade shows across the country to learn the craft of distillation. The need to “be in more than one place at one time” became even more frequent. The company currently only sells its product within the Bayou State, but expansion plans are underway. The
company also recently started aging its first whiskey batch.
When asked about the possibility of transitioning to a new aircraft in the future (especially as his businesses continue to take him further outside of Lafayette), Mike iterated something his recurrent instructor once said to him: “You want to be in a plane that you don’t have to think about.”
He said this in part due to his comfort level in his JetPROP of eight years, both in terms of flying and operational costs, as well as the possible aircraft that could compete with it.
“JetPROPs truly are one of the best planes that you can get for the money, in my opinion. Sure, there are some that are a little faster and carry a little bit more, but financially are not comparable,” he continued. “All-in operations cost averages about $500 per hour, not considering random upgrades. Wet costs are cheaper per mile than the Bonanza
was and are roughly $300 per hour (without reserves).”
As such, he does not intend to transition to another aircraft at the present moment. But, if JetPROP’s were “outlawed tomorrow,” the entrepreneur would consider a TBM 850 if the numbers worked out cost- wise. He feels this aircraft would be a viable turbine-class upgrade from a JetPROP as it cruises roughly 70 knots faster. “But I am comfortable with my current aircraft as it fits at least 80 percent of my missions and serves me quite well.”
Grant Boyd is a private pilot with seven years of experience in general aviation business from marketing to customer service. He has written more than 85 articles for aviation publications and enjoys learning about aircraft/pilots with unique missions. Grant can be reached at grantboyd2015@gmail.com.
First Source
July 2021 / TWIN & TURBINE • 29