PilotEdge Forums

I am conducting a poll to determine how to setup Hawkeye Flight Services - SoCal Ops in the coming weeks/days. I have begun the process of configuring jobs for for FBO's and those that I have partnered with here, mainly Keith at Task Saturated Penguin and Mark at Sunrise Jet Center. Below is a map of my projected routes that I have configured and am waiting for them to spawn new jobs.

http://tinyurl.com/HFSSoCal-PilotEdge

Below is a list of aircraft that I am currently willing to provide to the group or available for rent depending upon the poll. As you can see some of them are NOT in the SoCal area. I am trying to move them to SoCal as soon as possible. Eventually I will have all these planes located at either KLGB or KONT. There are other planes I would be willing to purchase based on suggestions.

N506H Beechcraft 1900D L17
N483H Beechcraft Baron 58 KSBP
N484H Beechcraft Baron 58 KPWK
N482H Beechcraft Bonanza A36 KSAT
N480H Beechcraft Bonanza V35 KVNY
N481H Beechcraft Bonanza V35 NY0
N487H Beechcraft King Air 200 KNRS
N485H Beechcraft King Air 200 EGSH
N507H Cessna 172 Skyhawk KONT
N494H Cessna 182 Skylane KDLS
N490H Cessna 182 Skylane KSBP
N491H Cessna 182 Skylane NGZ
N492H Cessna 182 Skylane KGCY
N493H Cessna 182 Skylane KHZY
N495H Cessna 207 Stationair 8 1H2
N496H Cessna 207 Stationair 8 2O1
N497H Cessna 208 Caravan O70
N498H Cessna 208 Caravan KNID
N499H Cessna 210 Centurion KNUC
N505H Cirrus SR22 G2 95TA
N489H Dassault Falcon 7X KLHM
N500H DeHavilland DHC-6 KSBP
N501H Embraer Phenom 100 KSFO
N504H Pilatus PC-12 KSBP
N503H Pilatus PC-12 KBNA
N502H Socata TBM 850 E97

There are three options and I will try to explain each before you decide.

Option #1: Pilots will ask to join the group. That will give access to all the aircraft above and whatever aircraft I am able to purchase in the future. Pilot pay will be based at 75% and the 25% will offset fuel and maintenance costs.

Option #2: Pilot will not be associated with the group. I will set very fair dry lease rates on all the planes so that the PilotEdge community will be allowed to fly the planes and not have associated Group fees tied to their flights.

Option #3: I don't plan to associate myself with joining the group or renting planes associated with Hawkeye Flight Services.

Thanks,
John

I would vote Option #2.

Option #1 is problematic because you have a wide range of aircraft there with completely variable cost structures. If someone fills a B1900 with 1-pax jobs, the job count will be very high, which means the booking fees will be a lot higher than the 10% they would normally be. The group could easily lose money on group flights with pilot pay at 75%.

The only way a group would 'work' (ie, be fair to all parties) is if the pilots flew the same aircraft, with the same pax loads and kept the block times fairly consistent. Anything else and either the group is taking 'too much (compared to what the pilot would've made had he/she just rented the plane) or is not taking enough to cover its costs.

Most pilots I know who fly on FSE like the fact that the amount they're paid is based on how efficiently they run the flight. For a dry rental, if you pick up the clearance with the engine off and run the mixture efficiently, you will burn less fuel on a given flight and therefore make more money. If you get a shortcut, or go VFR, you can make more money.

Groups, on the other hand, completely remove that element and there is no longer any financial incentive to fly efficiently at all. The group covers ALL of the expenses of the flight and pilots simply make xx% of the GROSS revenue for the flight.

I agree with Keith.

Beyond that that's a very impressive network and list of airplanes. Thanks for bringing them to PE.

I voted Option #2

I would join a group for social reasons as the first priority but would like to retain my own motivations for what/where/how I fly. That said, there's a point where the lure of the structure would get me to set that aside. For example, the Excel flights on the PE network are making me drool because I enjoy the "pressure" of simulated airline ops. In that situation (schedules worked out, jobs assigned, everyone doing the large work for me) my goal wouldn't be the money, but instead the "fun" of flying the route realistically or efficiently and ranked against other pilots in the same way.