Sport Pilot Talk

Tad Olmsted · Joined: 28 Feb 2011 Posts: 34 Location: Sebring,FL

One of the things that seem to be a pain in the neck is extended stays away from home during an annual inspection or lengthy MX. There is the hassle of getting a room, rental car, etc... not to mention the expense.

I have a nice commercial hangar with a lot of waisted space above my office. I had framed it up with the intentions of going up as work load progressed. Well, work has progressed and I am ready to build out the second phase of my facility.

I am planning on building two state rooms and a full bath above my office. For now it is just used for storage and I had already planned on going up with it when I built phase one (office and mezzanine). So making the connections to power and building codes has been pre planned.

I am fairly certain this idea would increase my range of new customers that have to fly a long way from home to have MX performed. I have the funds saved up and I am ready to pull the trigger on this. I have yet to borrow a dime from anyone and I am finally in a position to fund the build out.

I need some feedback and opinions from you all in helping me make my final decision. Is this a good idea and would it increase business therefore paying for itself in the long run?

Jack Tyler · Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 11:40 am Post subject:

Tad, I applaud your foresight...and also for thinking 'out of the box'. Yours is an interesting idea.

Here are a few things I'd wonder about when considering bringing you my business:
-- While your accommodations may be quite satisfactory, the airport is somewhat remote from 'the action' (such as it is) in Sebring. Is there public transportation that would permit the visitor to get to town, see a movie, get to a mall, etc.?
-- What does the Sebring area offer the visitor?
-- How much is a taxi into town?
-- How complete is the food service on the airport grounds? Could I have breakfast there? Off season, would they be serving dinner?
-- Is your parts inventory so complete (or the supply chain so responsive) that you find it rare to uncover a service or repair issue for which you don't have the part? What I'm trying to get at is how 'open ended' might my stay be, no matter how good the hospitality?
-- How good is your coffee? <s>

While I understand why you'd want to ask potential customers what we think via forums like this, I doubt you should give our responses much credence. It's certainly easier to voice support for the concept than for that support to later produce real customers. (OTOH you might find the build-out costs are low enough, given the rest of your expansion plans, that it would be worth the experiment). But what I'd suggest is that you try to do some benchmarking to learn what others with a similar arrangement have found. E.g. I happened to hear about Mt. Vernon Airport (home of the Midwest LSA Expo) recently constructing a hangar with the intent of it being multi-purpose in nature. Thus, they installed showers and other amenities in the hanger in hopes it would attract more business. Might be just the kind of folks to get some feedback from.

To answer your Q, in my case I'm in a major metropolitan area with multiple airports (and support facilities) so I could fly the plane to the mechanic and still get a ride home. But for the customer living in less populated areas in southern Florida, your idea might well appeal. I'm betting you won't know - really - unless you try it.

Good luck to you.

Tad Olmsted · Joined: 28 Feb 2011 Posts: 34 Location: Sebring,FL

Jack, this is the response I was looking for. Also, these are great questions.

As far as entertainment goes, Sebring has great rocking chairs for everyones entertainment needs. :lol: :lol: :lol: No, seriously it is a quiet city with one mall and several chain resteraunts like Chilis, Red Lobster, etc... Couple of theaters and of course the racetrack always has a race going on.

The most expensive cab ride from KSEF to anywhere in town would be around $5-$15. I have an extra work truck that usually stay at KSEF and is used for "gophering". It's reliable, but no limo.

The runway cafe is open for breakfast and lunch seven days a week and the food is great.

I have the great fortune of being only 2 minutes from Lockwood Aviation Supply. Unless there is something terribly wrong with your aircraft, I don't see a problem with things that pop up. However, I schedule parts ahead of time and have a lot of resources on the field. That's the beauty of working in a small community, we help each other out when in need of something off the wall. Well almost everyone does that, some new guys blew in town and made enemies instead of friends.

Finally, I got fired from coffee duty and Tara won't let me near the maker. Appearently there isn't supposed to be grounds in the bottom and there is something about a filter being changed???

Thanks for the post, keep them coming.

Jack Tyler · Posted: Sun May 22, 2011 2:07 pm Post subject:

Tad, one additional thought...

Thinking back on previous work done on our a/c, it's not always been possible for the A&P to insure that the work will be completed *even if* parts are available and the work is scheduled ahead of time. Things happen, a blown tube on a plane that just has to leave, some weekend work done by we amateurs suddenly becomes an emergency - as I said, things happen. You may have scheduled a visitor's job a week ahead of time and have the best of intentions to complete the work on the day scheduled, and then some problem (or issue at home) pops up. In those cases, if the visitor knows ahead of time that you have that small 'insurance policy' in place, that might be a bit reassuring and so lead to the biz coming your way. Or perhaps put differently, the news you have to give the visiting customer isn't as bad as it might be. Just leave a bar of soap in the shower, and a cup with a toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom...

Tad Olmsted · Joined: 28 Feb 2011 Posts: 34 Location: Sebring,FL

Exactly my point Jack. If MX does run unexpectedly behind, the customer is only out his time and not additional days in a hotel room. BTW, a good clean room without bed bugs can be expected to be around $80 per night.