The law firm's senior partner owned a Turbo Saratoga -- in fact, he had bought it new in 1985 at my suggestion -- and still owns it today. A Saratoga would be good for many of my business flights as well. Van Nuys Flight Center had two of them in its rental fleet, and I was checked out in N8171G.
Total hours: 1776
I used the rented Saratogas not only for business but also for family vacations. On this trip we took five people and bags nonstop from Van Nuys to Medford, where we shot a night instrument approach.
Total hours: 1792
"Railfair '91" at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento was the biggest gathering of operating steam locomotives in decades. The Saratoga was ideal for carrying two families and bags to this event for the weekend.
Total hours: 1830
The spacious Saratoga made a family reunion possible, when my grandmother joined us for the four-hour nonstop flight to southern Oregon. This airplane is now registered in Australia as VH-SLR.
Total hours: 1854
The Saratogas were excellent for carrying large loads, but Van Nuys Flight Center's 200-hp Mooney 201's were more cost-effective for solo business trips, and were just about as fast as the 300-hp Saratogas. N5811U is now registered in Nevada.
Total hours: 1873
VNFC's turbocharged Mooney 252's were fully equipped with top-of-the-line avionics, Stormscopes, and wing-mounted speed brakes. N252Y still operates in Southern California.
Total hours: 1908
During 1989-95 I probably rented N4296J more frequently than any other airplane. I didn't care for the T-tail's handling or its twitchy power management, but it had decent performance and a reasonable rental price. N4296J was a 1983 model, but it was the first Arrow to be painted in the 1984 Piper color scheme and was featured in Piper's 1984 Turbo Arrow brochure. This airplane was exported to Canada in 2000, where it was re-registered C-GGUQ.
Total hours: 2026
N5688M was another workhorse for many business trips for the law firm. It was one of the "Lean Machine" models with basic IFR avionics and spartan interior furnishings, and lacked such amenities as a cabin entry step. It handled nicely, though, and I enjoyed flying it.
Total hours: 2053
The M6.7 Northridge Earthquake on 17 Jan. damaged highways and bridges, making travel to many outlying areas impossible by car. The rented Saratoga was called upon to carry files and office equipment to our firm's branch office in Palmdale. A couple of weeks later a sharp aftershock hit while I was taxiing for takeoff, prompting a call to ground control to file a tongue-in-cheek pilot report of "moderate turbulence on the east taxiway." At right is the quake-damaged four-story parking structure of California State University at Northridge.
Total hours: 2166
Our law firm had six branch offices, two of which were located within walking distance of airplane parking areas. On this day I flew a rented Piper Warrior to our Riverside office, and the senior partner's Turbo Saratoga was there, as well. N9134Y is now registered in Kansas.
Total hours: 2183
This Turbo Arrow carried my wife, son, grandmother and me to visit my mother, who was hospitalized near Riverside. An Ohio company now owns this airplane.
Total hours: 2229