
OpenAirplane, FlyOtto Shut Down Operations - prostoalex
https://www.flyingmag.com/story/news/openairplane-flyotto-shut-down-operations/
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sokoloff
To make a small fortune in aviation, first start with a large fortune.

I think the idea of renting an airplane away from home is moderately appealing
and I've done it 3 times (none via OpenAirplane), but each time with a local
instructor, because I wasn't going to use an away-from-base rental airplane
for purposeful travel.

The desire to rent an airplane without an instructor (what OA enabled) isn't
that much higher for me than renting one with an instructor. In Iceland, I
wanted to fly around and look at the terrain and nature. I flew the airplane,
but have the instructor knowing where we were, all the radio procedures, and
having a "walk up, get in, fly, go pay, walk away" experience was worth the
modest instructor fee. Same with the two rentals I did in Florida; in those
cases, I was trying out new aircraft as a potential type to purchase and had
no reason not to have an experienced instructor on board (in fact, it was a
big plus).

Now, the fact that I didn't do what OA is best at means that maybe I don't
really see the advantage. If we're going somewhere within about 700 miles, we
probably have our airplane with us. If we're going farther than that, we're
probably not going to then want to rent an airplane to sight-see _and_ need to
not have an instructor on board. If we go to Hawaii, we'll surely rent an
airplane and instructor.

I feel bad for the obviously passionate founders who had their company fail to
thrive.

~~~
jen20
> To make a small fortune in aviation, first start with a large fortune.

This opinion seems shared by Richard Branson, who famously said "if you want
to become a millionaire, start as a billionaire and start and airline"!

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redis_mlc
> Pilots who are members must complete a checkout every 12 months to remain
> current in the network (in the same make/model as the airplane they are
> checked out in), as well as receive a “local knowledge briefing” once a
> year. Before signing up, you’ll also need to obtain your own renter’s
> insurance with a minimum of $250,000 in liability coverage.

I'm not seeing any common sense in the founders.

1\. For most people, doing an extra checkout is a deal breaker.

2\. Same with the 10% (or more) additional cost. I wonder if that disqualifies
block time discounts as well.

3\. Also requiring renters insurance, which although recommended, most people
don't have.

However, if you already lived near an OA location, and you squint hard, it
could make sense for a handful of pilots - just not enough to ever make a
profitable business.

There's an article about Blackbird linked to this article. They were trying to
do the "hold out" Part 135 charters but regulated under Part 91 thing that the
FAA never allows, and never will.

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paktor132
My flying ebbs and flows with life, seasons, weather, etc...since I'll often
go a few months without flying, I found OA checkouts were a great way of
knocking the rust off. I would study up on the knowledge, and then the ~1 hour
of flight time with an instructor for the annual OA checkout was enough for me
to get comfortable again. (I never felt like I needed to spend flight time
preparing for the OA checkouts.) And the OA checkout could also count as a
flight review. So I guess the bottom line is that for me, I could always roll
an OA checkout into time when I'd want to be flying with an instructor anyway.

I never got charged more for OA than the published rental rates...but all the
places where I did my checkouts had me fill out one extra sheet of paper so
that an OA checkout _also_ counted as a checkout for their own insurance
rules. So if I was flying with a place a lot, I'd just do the checkout there
and buy block time from them and rent under their non-OA policy. Basically, OA
was great for everywhere other than one's local FBO, for which it was still
typically a better deal to just rent under the terms of their standard non-OA
policy.

Renter's insurance would be a tough sell for a lot of people; my local FBO
already required it so I was good to go. (My local FBO is great, but they're
also the only place I know that does dry rentals where you're not insured by
their policy...weird, I know)

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redis_mlc
> I found OA checkouts were a great way of knocking the rust off.

That's a great attitude, and one I have adopted.

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taitems
Off topic: Credit where credit is due, that site is doing an amazing job of
thwarting AdBlockers. I thought for a moment I had disabled it, but no, 90+
items blocked and I'm still seeing ads everywhere due to obfuscated class
names and same origin image hosting.

~~~
sjf
Agreed, I've got ABP and pi-hole and I still see ads, in addition to the chum
bucket of sponsored links at the end.

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heelix
I loved the concept. My home FBO supported it, so was thinking I'd be styling
since I traveled very frequently for work. I was never once able to just say
'here is my medical, insurance, and OpenAirplane signoff - and use a
C152/C172/C182 just like all the others. Every single one basically wanted a
one hour checkout or so, which is what most FBOs do when you are renting.

~~~
redis_mlc
Wait, were you an OA customer? Tell us more!

Yeah, there's incredible freedom if you have all the paperwork and own your
own Mooney or other fast airplane.

Anything short of that in flying is a harsh, toe-stubbing reality unless you
stay local VFR.

~~~
heelix
Not much to tell. My home FBO was OA, so I did it as part of getting my PPL.
Traveled heavy (Mon-Fri, all over the US) for work and never once found an
airport that would rent without a checkout. Always an easy checkout... but an
extra $50-100 depending on the location for an unwanted instructor.

~~~
redis_mlc
> never once found an airport that would rent without a checkout.

I've never heard of an insurance requirement for the checkout, so I believe
it's an FBO requirement. I think it's reasonable because local procedures
vary, but that invalidates the OA business model.

Also, FBOs vary in expectations. I've rented at some places where tow bar use
was 100% mandatory, and others that didn't own any and just said, "push at the
wing root."

In Hawaii there's no cross-wind limits, and in California if the wind sock
flutters, everybody's grounded.

