Van Sant Airport (9N1)

My plane is back on the rental line but the wx's been IFR for days. I needed some sort of flying fix, so I packed the kids in the car this morning and headed up to Van Sant. I have one landing at 9N1 in my logbook but that was about 5 years ago, so I thought it would be fun to stop by and take a look.

It's a great little grass strip airport, located only about 9nm from KDYL. This little gem is practially in our back yard. It has all the characteristics of a true, classic airport, including a turf strip. I've always wanted to get my tailwheel endorsement and just recently added it to my short flying to-do list.

The kids were sound asleep when I got to Van Sant so I wasn't able to go into the FBO to say hello. Seeing the grass strip in person got me motivated to pursue the tailwheel endorsement, and I called when I get home to get some more info on what would be required. Sadly, I was told that Sport Aviation is going out of business next week and the future of their planes and instruction is in jeopardy. They told me to call after November 1 to see if the J3 would still be available for instruction and rental.

I'm bummed but not totally surprised. I saw a post a few weeks ago on AirNav noting that the owner's retirement was imminent... just didn't imagine that it would happen this quickly. Keeping my fingers crossed that things remain as they are with the new owners. In the meantime, I've rekindled my interest in the grass. I have an upcoming BFR and may seek permission to work on the grass operations and take the plane into 9N1.

N92789

I found this old picture of N92789. This was taken in December of 1994, during a Discovery Flight that I took with my dad.

She's wearing a new paint scheme now but 789er's still working the rental line. This will always been one of those special planes because of this one flight.

Non-equity a No-Go

Dang, I knew I shouldn't have posted the pics and N number. I think I jinxed my non-equity deal.

After waiting almost a month, I called the owner today to follow up to my proposal. Not entirely surprising at this point, he pretty much said that they were still considering the arrangement but it wasn't looking good. I'm not entirely sure why because just a few weeks ago he seemed almost as excited as I did about it. I'm thinking it's probably likely that he expected my contribution to be a bit higher. I spent hours and hours massaging the numbers and solicited the opinions of many owners and pilots. Ultimately, I offered him four different options that involved varying degrees of fixed cost contributions, all of which had a cost to me (with fuel) in the low to mid $60/hour range. I currently pay $75/hour for the 152 so I had to keep my costs in this area because it wouldn't faciliate my path to ownership if I was paying more than the rental line rate, a point which I made clear to him from our first conversation. Plus, much as I'd like the convenience of the availability provided by the non-equity arrangement, I did have concerns about the awkwardness of handling squawks (despite the fact that he was contractually obligated to fix them).

It is what it is. He's still trying to sell and is asking 23AMUs. It's a 1969 C150J with TTAF +/-8000, SMOH +/-1200 with a TBO of 1800. Plane has one Narco Nav/Com, although he did say it was IFR certified when he bought it. It's not a bad plane by any means, but with a VFR panel, high TT, awful paint scheme, and a rental history I think the price is too much.

For comparison, this is the aircraft that I almost bought (and on hindsight, should have bought) last year. N53267 was owned by a long-time family friend so I knew the plane well. My price at the time was also 23AMU. Plane was a 1979 Cessna 152, I think TT was in the low 3000s, NO RENTAL HISTORY, full IFR panel and current cert, engine was nearing TBO but compressions were good. I didn't have my financial ducks in a row and the plane was rushed into a pre-buy and ultimately crated and shipped to India. I think my friend actually got like $27k for it.

So, assuming that the motor mounts get fixed on N94006, it looks like I'll be staying on the rental line for the forseeable future. Could be a good thing, I guess. This may force me to get my finances in order and pursue a purchase in earnest. I'd love to find a partnership, if I could, but I'm just not seeing them out there and especially not at KDYL. There is a 1/2 share in a PA-28-140 asking $15k, but I'm really a high-wing guy and if I'm going to spend this kind of money I think I'd rather have my own C150/152 for about the same price. In many ways, the low useful load of the Cherokee 140 makes it a two-place anyway, so although it would be nice to share costs, I just don't think it's the right plane at the right price for me at this stage.

Two old friends... 80A and Travis

Hello again, 80A. Goodbye, Travis. This pretty much summed up my flying on Friday.

The C152 (94006) has been down for a lengthy maintenance period and, despite the fact that I'm trying to pinch every penny until I see how my non-equity/partnership/ownership saga unfolds, I was starting to feel rusty. Friday morning was open, the local TFRs didn't start until 2:30, and 80A was sitting on the line begging me to take her flying. Need I say more? I jumped on the schedule and hustled over to the airport to take to the skies.

The usual crew was in the FBO when I got there, including my friend and CFI/CFII Travis. My BFR is due in November and I'd been meaning to mention it to Travis. I took the opportunity to mention to him that I wanted to get this knocked out in the coming weeks and, with a straight face, he replied "Didn't you hear? Today's my last day." At first I thought he was joking, but a quick survey of the faces revealed that nobody was smiling. "What?!?" I replied. I'd known for a while that he was getting homesick (he came to DYL from Nebraska) and that his lease was due for renewal, but I never really thought he'd bag it and head back west. I've been busy with school and work and haven't been at the airport much, and this one just snuck up on me.

Travis is one of those unique CFIs who is both a friend and a mentor. He had a really easy going instructing style and was a pleasure to fly with. I'd started my IR with him last year and shot my first approaches with him. Then I got sidetracked with life and didn't make much progress. He was always eager to chat and often joined me during my preflights just to see what was new. We also spent many an hour sitting on the picnic benches just chatting and watching the traffic at DYL. On hindsight, I really wish I'd taken advantage of the opportunity to do my IR rating with him in the right seat. I'm going to miss him.

After coming to my senses, I did manage to b.s. with him a little bit and then guide 80A around the pattern. Logged 0.4 on the Hobbs with 2 decent landings. I'd hoped to say goodbye to Travis when I got back, but he took an early Discovery Flight and our paths didn't cross again that afternoon.

I plan to call him to say thank you and hope that we can get together during one of his return trips to Philly. I owe him a beer.