Frequently Asked Questions
Why don’t you just rent planes from the local local flight agency?
This is a three part answer -
First - Availability, The local flight agencies operate on a first come first serve basis. We require availability.
Second - They need to make a profit - we don’t. We work the economics.
Third - We know who will be flying the airplanes and have control over operational standards. Rentals are a different story; have you heard the phrase “drive it like you stole it?” - Well renting a plane is not that much different, high power settings, inexperienced pilots and a different attitude towards attention to detail and piloting skill.
Do you have paid staff?
No we do not. We are a volunteer organization, Pilots and support staff will do what is needed to schedule flights and keep our brand solid.
What do you mean by “Proof of Concept” and will my donation be wasted?
Like any successful endeavor, we are an organization filling a gap. Right now there are people who need transportation sitting on the ground due to the lack of aircraft. We need 3 different aircraft to fill the gap between a mission not met and a successful mission. We are staring with a modest $250,000 capitol raise. This will provide for 150 missions or 7 months of operations. To achieve sustainability, during those 7 months we need to generate a donation stream of $5000 per month to maintain operations and $10,000 per month or more to achieve phase 2 of our growth. During that time missions will be flown and all donated money will be working toward a final vision of service and 1000 missions per year.
Why have the aircraft at Bremerton National Airport and not Seattle?
Always follow the money…
The cost of tiedowns, fuel and maintenance is much more economical at Bremerton, AVIAN Aviation has a fantastic reputation of maintenance.
Aircraft operations time is decreased - shorter taxi, quicker approaches and less traffic all make it more efficient to operate from Bremerton -
What is a “typical Mission”
Typical Mission is a hard one but taking a sampling from unfulfilled flights the pilot would do their flight planning the evening before the flight, about 30 minutes. The day of the flight the pilot would make the necessary calls to the passenger and and connecting people. Arrival at the airport 30 minutes prior to departure time. Departure time is set so that the aircraft arrives at the passengers departure airport 30 minutes prior to the passengers arrival. When the passenger arrives, time is spent making sure the passenger’s needs are met and departure can happen on time. After a quick flight briefing, we take off and head to the destination airport where ground personal are waiting to complete the transportation plan. The Pilot and aircraft return to home base if there is no need for a return flight for the passenger. Pilot time - about 5 hours for a 90 minute flight.