Pilots eager to get back into the sky

Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2001 | 9 a.m.

Marcum Endicott couldn't wait to jump into his Cessna single-engine, two-seat airplane Monday.

John Giles had to wait until the end of business to get out from behind the counter at the West Air Aviation flight school in North Las Vegas to hop into his Bonanza single-engine, four-seat plane.

Dot Stewart, who took a night job to help keep her Aviator's North Las Vegas plane rental business afloat, was just too tired to take her Cherokee four-seater out for a spin.

Nevertheless, the three "visual flight rules" pilots were excited by Monday's news that the Federal Aviation Administration is reopening the skies over Las Vegas and 11 other cities to private planes whose pilots navigate without instruments and who do not file flight plans.

Restrictions were lifted two weeks ago for general aviation pilots trained to fly using only instruments. Such "instrument flight rules" pilots also are required to file flight plans.

However, that action left many Southern Nevada pilots effectively grounded because they were not trained in instrument flight, an expensive proposition. Nearly 90 percent of all private planes fly under visual flight rules.

"Happy, happy, happy was the response of many of our pilots," said Stewart, who has been what she calls a "fair weather" visual rules pilot for 22 years. "Many said they couldn't wait until after work tonight to do a couple of rounds."

Only Washington, New York and Boston have limits on visual rule flights by Wednesday. The ban also continues on foreign-owned private planes, unless they are registered in Canada or Mexico. News helicopters and blimps still can't fly in 30 metropolitan areas, including Las Vegas.

A new FAA rule does require private planes flying under visual flight rules to have transponders that allow air traffic controllers to track the aircraft. Giles, Endicott and Stewart said that will have little effect on visual flyers in Southern Nevada, because most local small planes already have the devices.

"Locally, there may be a Piper Cub or two that do not have transponders," Giles said, noting that pilots of such planes will have to obtain a FAA waiver each time they travel from city to city.

Endicott, who has been a pilot for six years, says he began to have fears that he would not get to leave Las Vegas' restricted air space unless he got his instrument flight rules rating.

"I'm working on obtaining that now, but it is an intense rating that will cost an additional $4,000 for me to increase my capabilities," Endicott said. "For many pilots who fly less than a few hundred miles and only on clear days, it's just not worth it."

Giles, who also has been a pilot for six years, said he is relieved that his visual flight rules graduates will once again be able to rent the school's planes to get in valuable flight hours. Students were allowed to fly only with instructors under the old restrictions.

"We were concerned enough to consider taking planes to Jean or Overton (outside Las Vegas' air space) so that our graduates could get out and fly," Giles said.

To stay in business during the slow period of rentals brought on by the visual rules flight restrictions, Stewart took a night job.

"We had very few pilots stopping by, so this absolutely affected my business," Stewart said. "Sure, I can't wait to get back to flying, but I'm going to have to get some sleep first."