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Not Sure If This Was Posted? Chicago Tribune!
Full article in the Chicago Tribune http://tinyurl.com/6rzgde
Pilots with a sense of adventure go full throttle into ferrying missions By Luann Grosscup | Special to the Chicago Tribune 7:41 PM CDT, August 14, 2008 The life of a ferry pilot could probably inspire an action/adventure television series, yet outside aviation circles, they're a bit of an unknown. "Ferry pilots are sort of the loners of the air," writes Spike Nasmyth, author of "So You Want to Be a Ferry Pilot," (Trafford, 2003). "Most of them wouldn't fit in with the airline crowd and their tight schedules, and constant inter-relationships with co-pilots, chief pilots, passengers and flight attendants." The job, as Nasmyth describes it, is to move a really cool old plane from one exotic place to another. The type of aircraft can be anything, from a Grumman Mallard flying boat to a classic DC-3 to an old rust bucket Let410. "Aircraft ferrying has been going on ever since there were planes to be moved," said Michael Magnell, Pilot and owner of Transoceanic Ferry, Laguna Hills, Calif., adding that the U.S. planes were ferried to England and Russia during World War II. "Nothing special is required by the FAA to be a ferry pilot, so accurate counts of the number of pilots doing this type of work and the number of flights is not available. "Most pilots get into this line of work because of the adventure of flying," he said, adding that pilots don't get rich. "Pay scales range anywhere from $150-350 per day, plus expenses." Russ Sherwood, a pilot and worldwide coordinator for Global Air Ferry, based in China, explained how the ferry network works. "We have several experienced aviators from various backgrounds, from bush pilots and flight instructors to airline captains and test pilots," said Sherwood. "We deal with various aircraft types and areas of operations, from small general aviation aircraft to large commercial jets. Each one of us is linked to this operation via a central coordination unit located in China, which allocates different ferry flight requests from our customers to the pilots with appropriate aircraft ratings or cross-country flight experience." Magnell specializes in light single- and twin-engine aircraft over large expanses of water. As such, the planes need to be modified to include a fuel system that will ensure enough fuel for a trans-oceanic crossing and a HF radio. Magnell flies mostly U.S. registered aircraft because he has a U.S. airline transport pilot certificate; ferry pilots must be licensed to fly in the country the plane is registered in. "The airline transport license is the highest you can get, and it is recognized in almost any other country in the world," said Magnell. "I can show that license in most countries and they will usually issue me a temporary license to fly planes registered in their country." Steven Rhine, pilot and owner of Worlwide Ferry Pilot Service based in Portland, Ore., stressed the importance of proper planning, including aircraft performance and weather and getting proper overflight and landing clearances. "If you don't, you could end up with the total loss of an aircraft, either in some government seizure/grounding or end up in the ocean," said Rhine. "You need to plan your arrival so you land during airport hours or be faced with hefty opening fees." A large fee could be the least of a pilot's worries as he could wind up spending time in a foreign jail. "In some countries," Rhine said, "we need to know how to deal with government and police corruption, along with bribes that are associated with departing the airport." Additionally, there are logistics, including availability of aviation fuel, taxis and hotel rooms. Then there's the paperwork nightmare. "Not only filing for multiple over-fly clearances," said Sherwood, "but also local aviation authorities might take months to certify an aircraft modified for long- distance ferry flights." And don't forget the insurance, supplied by the aircraft owner. "Insurance companies will not insure just anyone for a flight of complexity, for example a twin Piper Navajo from the U.S. to India," Sherwood said. "Insurance companies want to see a lot of over-the- water experience, previous international operations, a lot of multi- engine time in your log book." Clients looking to hire a pilot would be well-advised to adapt a "caveat emptor" mentality, said George Sigler, a fomer ferry pilot and now owner of Speed Aviation, Vero Beach, Fla., and aviation consultant. "Anyone can pay for an ad in Trade-a-Plane," said Sigler, making it necessary to do your research, "so you know you're hiring someone reliable. I'd look for proof of flight time, but you need to get references, what companies they've flown for, and these need to be thoroughly checked out." "One day one of my ferry clients called, an aircraft dealer, and said he was looking for a B737 captain to ferry a former Western/Delta B737-200 that had been mothballed in the desert at Victorville, CA for a year. He needed it ferried to Kabul, Afghanistan and for the ferry pilot to stay there and fly captain on it a few months for the new owner, a Russian company." – Michael Magnell, owner/pilot Transoceanic Ferry The high adventure also can carry deadly risks. "You are always getting into planes that are totally unfamiliar to you," said Magnell. "You will often times be flying into places that you have never been to. Like the first time I went into Vagar in the Faeroe Islands. The weather report gave winds at 500 feet above sea level, which I have never seen before anywhere." The turbulence at the level of the surrounding terrain often determine whether or not landing is possible at the sea level airport that lies at the end of a fjord. "Over water flights are risky because of the obvious – there is no place to land," said Magnell. "I will not do a single engine piston aircraft over the North Atlantic because it is too risky. I know several good ferry pilots who are no longer with us because of the dangers of overwater ferry flying." "Ferrying small aircraft in most cases involves bare pilotage bringing the original non-computerized aviation experiences to your cockpit, which is incomparable with other flights," said Sherwood. "Flying over multiple countries, seeing rare nature above the Arctic, or the exotics of the African tropics, meeting interesting people -- all of these are extremely intriguing adventures you can easily grow addicted to." |
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