Airplane Rentals Just Like Car Rentals

tonyw

Well-Known Member
I like this concept. You get checked out once, and you can rent a plane anywhere this network is.

The current airplane rental system is like having Hertz say, okay, so you've got a California driver's license, but you are in Nevada. So we're going to have to have you take a test before we rent you a car, and we're going to charge you for it.

I like this idea.

http://mashable.com/2013/06/17/openairplane/
 
I like this concept. You get checked out once, and you can rent a plane anywhere this network is.

The current airplane rental system is like having Hertz say, okay, so you've got a California driver's license, but you are in Nevada. So we're going to have to have you take a test before we rent you a car, and we're going to charge you for it.

I like this idea.

http://mashable.com/2013/06/17/openairplane/
It's otherwise known as "making a profit" :D
 
This would be great for when we are sitting at another place for a week at a time and want to go have fun. Hopefully it catches on!
 
At first I taught it was a company having many locations, but it`s much more simple then that as it`s like for participating FBOs and Flight schools.

cool idea but I see two issues:

- less money for CFIs
- Even if airplanes fly the same way anywhere in the country, each airspace and geography as it`s peculiarity that you can really only safely learn with a ck-out flight.
 
At first I taught it was a company having many locations, but it`s much more simple then that as it`s like for participating FBOs and Flight schools.

cool idea but I see two issues:

- less money for CFIs
- Even if airplanes fly the same way anywhere in the country, each airspace and geography as it`s peculiarity that you can really only safely learn with a ck-out flight.

With the exception of areas with terrain issues, I would say that any certified and current pilot should be able to safely operate out of any airspace.
 
I think its a great idea. It is aggravating when I get checked out in a 172 at a certain flight school and want to fly out of another flight school 30 minutes away because it is cheaper but I have to go through a whole checkout process again. I've been all around the airspace, I've flown that airplane, why another check out? I hope this open airplane thing catches on.
 
Cool. But as a CFI that's more lost business. Plus I can't blame any school for wanting to check out pilots before they rent THEIR airplane. Some of the scariest flights I've done we're checkouts for people that were checked out elsewhere.
 
With the exception of areas with terrain issues, I would say that any certified and current pilot should be able to safely operate out of any airspace.

By the Book this is true, but many parts of the country, especially where there are many flight schools you find lots of extras, additional reporting points, special procedure that are usually only spread by local knowledge. I have a friend who bought an aircraft and he decided to base it at the same airport I did most of my training and instructed, the first time I went flying with him I just sat there on the right seat, he did everything by the book but to be honest with you in that situation he wasn`t being safe enough to make me stop checking around us all the time, and more the ones ATC had to make other planes aware of US buzzing around the practice area.

I know a lot of people that refuse to fly VFR for this exact reason, lack of local knowledge so they just file IFR all the time, my friend above is one of them.

This are minor problems that maybe don`t affect most pilots, as you said terrain may be a much more critical issue as local weather patterns could be too.
 
A couple years ago I sat in on a meeting, workshop, sales pitch or what ever you want to call it at Oshkosh. Yeah, it's a new concept but I see the same problems. For one, not every airplane is exactly the same, different avionics and such. Airspace is airspace but it helps to have the local knowledge for that area. For example within 50 miles of my home airport, every possible airspace is present Restricted, MOA, Alert, ADIZ and Bahamas, etc... As well as meat missiles, aerobatics, seaplanes, and gliders. Most people can handle those transitions, it's called a cross country. Some pilots enjoy that "Welcome to the area, here is some local knowledge" flight. Although, This would have been nice when I had to rent an arrow from another operator when my usual ride was down for maintenance while I was training for CFI and it was a waste of time but I see the point. Insurance companies look for reasons to deny claims and checkouts help keep that from happening.
 
In some parts of the world they have type ratings for all aircrafts from a C172 to the Jets, it`s the case on my CAA NZ based license. Once you gained a type you are entitled to fly as PIC, but you also need to be current on model within the last 90 days. I have flown the same model at different places without requiring a ck-out, in most cases they make you do a swing around the pattern (or some ground time if it has some special radios,..) and you are good to go, not a real ck out.
 
From a renters standpoint I really like the idea, but I can see where it would have its issues. One of the operators on my field is participating. I will have to ask them how often they get out of town renters.
 
A couple years ago I sat in on a meeting, workshop, sales pitch or what ever you want to call it at Oshkosh. Yeah, it's a new concept but I see the same problems. For one, not every airplane is exactly the same, different avionics and such. Airspace is airspace but it helps to have the local knowledge for that area. For example within 50 miles of my home airport, every possible airspace is present Restricted, MOA, Alert, ADIZ and Bahamas, etc... As well as meat missiles, aerobatics, seaplanes, and gliders. Most people can handle those transitions, it's called a cross country. Some pilots enjoy that "Welcome to the area, here is some local knowledge" flight. Although, This would have been nice when I had to rent an arrow from another operator when my usual ride was down for maintenance while I was training for CFI and it was a waste of time but I see the point. Insurance companies look for reasons to deny claims and checkouts help keep that from happening.

Maybe on standardized Cessna 172s with g1000? I know it would make for lots of very useless pilots but I see a lot more chances.
 
Maybe on standardized Cessna 172s with g1000? I know it would make for lots of very useless pilots but I see a lot more chances to see it work.

I concur. That's a step in the right direction - standardized airplanes and standardized checkouts.
 
I would have rented an airplane many more times over the years then I have if it weren't for getting checked out every time I wanted to fly. Spending the money for a check out just doubles the hobby.

Lets say im out of town on vacation. I would spend 70-100 bucks to check out the area by plane. Spending 70-100 bucks for a plane, 30-50 for an instructor for a checkout even before spending the original 70-100 bucks makes it just too expensive to do.

I would have to say the number one reason for not spending my money on GA flying right now is having to get checked out in a plane. Just seems like a waste of money.
 
It's an interesting idea with potential, but I'm still very up in the air on it. The standards for the Open Airplane checkout would have to be higher than your average spin around the pattern to build a group of pilots where business owners can have high confidence in their capabilities and recency of experience is easily validated (logbook integration). If easy validation of renter's insurance were built in, that also would be a plus.

As a business owner, I'm not Hertz, and you're generally not dealing with a large fleet of corporate owned vehicles that get turned over every year and where profit is made on high volume transactions. You're dealing with a handful of airplanes and operating procedures with idiosyncrasies, usually owned by local individuals where there's a fine balance between keeping them flying and going out of business. There's the intangible and subjective matter of sitting down with someone for a half hour to be sure they are someone you want to do business with.

On the other hand, as a pilot I understand it'd be great to be able to walk into an FBO almost anywhere in the country and grab an airplane without dealing with all the weird individual CFI's and their bizarre preferences and attitudes, and not have to dump $100+ just to get the checkout done so I'm allowed to go rent it for an hour to see some local scenery.

If they can develop it into a reliable system where if Joe Smith calls up and says he's here on vacation next weekend and would like to use a C172 and I can pull up his record, see that he had a thorough checkout 12 months ago, has flown X hours in the past 2 months, see his renter's policy limits and see that it's paid and current, see his medical date and flight review are good... basically saving me a lot of work, I'd be very inclined to book him and toss him the keys with a smile when he showed up.
 
Hasn't this been tried before, maybe late 80's early 90's? IIRC, it did not take long to tank.
 
I would have rented an airplane many more times over the years then I have if it weren't for getting checked out every time I wanted to fly. Spending the money for a check out just doubles the hobby.

Lets say im out of town on vacation. I would spend 70-100 bucks to check out the area by plane. Spending 70-100 bucks for a plane, 30-50 for an instructor for a checkout even before spending the original 70-100 bucks makes it just too expensive to do.

I would have to say the number one reason for not spending my money on GA flying right now is having to get checked out in a plane. Just seems like a waste of money.

Or said flight school/FBO requiring a 3-5 hour checkout for an airplane (at 250/hr that I currently fly and have hundreds of hours in down in a busy B/C/D corridor in Florida, but not at some Class G airport in the northeast away from the major airports? Doesnt matter how much time, then its purely to make money or insurance premium is way too high.
 
Hasn't this been tried before, maybe late 80's early 90's? IIRC, it did not take long to tank.

I remember there was something where you could buy a share of a Columbia 350 and use any that was available in the company fleet, also pick it up at any of their bases.
 
You also have to realize, the local FBO is making relatively very little on you 1-3 hour rental but the risk is high that any given pilot may break something. In many cases, it's just not worth it to rent to someone for a small time period. In many other cases, especially on higher value rentals, the insurance company has reviewed and approved a rental policy that specifies a set amount of training in the specific aircraft. Asking them to ignore that could mean it's now an uninsured airplane and they'd be stupid to do so...especially to make a couple hours margin on some unknown pilot. If insurance companies and rental policies start to adopt the Open Airplane concept (which they might do, again if the checkouts are fairly intensive and current) then that will be the main driver that gets this widespread adoption.
 
When I was in college me and a few buddies kicked around this idea to see if it would catch on and we could do it, but the problem is that startup costs are going to be massive compared to the revenue if you're doing this as a standalone company, and I highly doubt that FBOs would be willing to join in as "partners" knowing their airplane could end up in bumblefrack nowhere on the other side of the continent flown by someone who has never been given their checkout.

Brilliant idea, but with the current state of GA it'll never happen.
 
Back
Top