A driver from the Porsche’s Driving School on course at Centennial Airport’s temporary road course.
By Robert Louis DalColletto
Technology and affordability in private aircraft are evolving rapidly, as evidenced by the recent Porsche Business Aircraft & Jet Previews on July 17 at Clay Lacy Aviation in Seattle at Boeing Field/King County International Airport (BFI); on Aug. 7 at Denver jetCenter at Centennial Airport (APA); and on Aug. 22 at New York’s Malloy Air East at Westhampton Beach’s Francis S Gabreski Airport (FOK). Porsche tapped the pilot and aircraft owner market with these special showings, attended by an average of 1,200 guests.
No wonder, in a recent Business Week travel special, Douglas MacMillan reported that private aircraft sales were up by 185 percent over the previous 10-year period. In 2006, 885 business jets were shipped worldwide. It seems the challenges of commercial flight today have spurred individuals to consider alternative air travel.
The latest in aircraft were featured in all three shows, including a big draw, the recently introduced Citation Mustang, plus several other models from Cessna, as well as impressive VLJs, ranging from the Eclipse 500 to the D-Jet from Diamond Aircraft. The jets and very light jets on display are changing the face and the future of air travel.
Cass Whitehead of the Porsche Driving School give instructions to the drivers that are about to take a couple of hot laps in the Porsche Cayman (APA).
Attractive to first-time buyers, Cessna’s Citation Mustang is available for well under $3 million, the Eclipse 500 is priced at 1.35 million, Mooney’s Ovation III can be purchased for $450K and the Cirrus SR-20 is available for under $270,000.
“This was an amazing showing of aircraft and cars,” said financial advisor Lyle Sadbeck, on hand for the show in Denver. “It’s exciting to see such advances in technology developments in aviation and the Porsche’s are fun to drive and amazingly affordable.”
The aviation industry’s top manufacturers were well represented with Eclipse, Piaggio, Cessna, Cirrus, Diamond, Pilatus, Piper, Mooney, Socata, Bombardier, Hawker Beechcraft and Embraer. No Porsche Business Aircraft & Jet Preview would be complete without an auto gallery of sexy Porsche cars, including the Boxster, Cayenne, Cayman, 911 Carrera and the 911 Twin Turbo, displayed courtesy of Stevenson Porsche, Prestige Porsche and Porsche of Boulder at APA; Riverhead Bay Motors and Storms Motors at FOK; and Barrier Porsche at BFI. Porsche offered special driving autocross events at Centennial and in New York that were a big hit at the shows, as pilots, aircraft owners and other guests enjoyed hands-on driving experience.
During the beautiful weather, the crowds enjoyed complimentary great food and drink. Aircraft from nearby military bases provided mesmerizing flyovers for the attendees—like the F22 Rapture’s performance at Boeing Field and the F-18s in Denver.
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- An F-22 Raptor buzzes the Seattle Jet Preview crowd.
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- Bill C. Clarey, Hawker Beechcraft regional sales director, and his wife, Kelly, brought along their two sons, Parker (left) and Fred (BFI).
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- The Seattle crowd took a break from the excitement to enjoy the food, drink and shade.
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- A steady stream of visitors admired the popular Eclipse 500 ( BFI).
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- L to R: Gale Lee, Brainard Lee, Melida Borden and Sara Borden made their Seattle Jet Preview experience a family affair.
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- Laurie Lips and Robert DalColletto hang out at the new 2008 Pilatus PC-12 (BFI).
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- Guests admire the D-Jet mock-up, which is towed around the country by the colorful truck in the background (FOK).
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- Joe Severino and Dawn Szot with Storm Motors and the Porsche Carrera 4s. Storm Motors brought six beautiful Porsches (FOK).
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- Chalmers, Brian, John, Cass and Eric, instructors from the Porsche Sport Driving School, enjoy a lunch break before heading back to the autocross course (FOK).
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- Caitlan Moran with AAG Associated Aircraft Group shows off the avionics features of the Sikorsky S76C+ (FOK).
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- Porsche offered autocross driving in this 911 Carrera for jet preview guests.
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- Before participating in the Porsche autocross driving event, drivers were given instructions on maneuvering the course and tips on driving and safety.
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- Chris May from 121 Inflight served a delicious, catered lunch to guests at Malloy Air East (FOK).
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- Overview of the Porsche Business Aircraft & Jet Preview at the Hamptons.
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- Mark and Brian Tumlo inspect the beautiful glass cockpit in the Diamond DA40 (FOK).
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- Associated Aircraft Group displayed their Sikorsky S-76 helicopter at the Hampton Jet Preview.
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- L to R: Rita Berlin, corporate sales manager, Virgin Charter Center; Brenda Paauwe-Navori, director, commercial aircraft sales & operator relations; Kathy Petrovic, VP, corporate sales, Eastern region, Virgin Charter (FOK).
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- Katie and Tom Jensen represented Alpine Air of Telluride, Colo. (APA).
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- Geoff Gabriel, Bob Sprague and Dave Petitti from Porsche of Boulder, with the Porsche Carrera 4S (APA).
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- Dave Plucker and Wes Becker from Rocky Mountain Sport Aviation in the very popular Remos LSA (APA).
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- Kent Stevenson and Deck Hughes from Stevenson Porsche, with their 2008 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet (APA).
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- Motorsports Country Club provided information on the new facility to be built east of Denver. L to R: Richard Grote, Tim Bird, Laura Wagner, Nate Montierth, Michael Bergren and Mat Emmi with a Porsche race car (APA).
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- The line to view the interior of the Embraer Legacy 600 was long all day (APA).
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- Sean Carter from the Perfect Landing Restaurant cooked up lots of brats and turkey wraps for lunch during the Porsche Business Aircraft and Jet Preview at Centennial Airport.
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- L to R; International Jet Aviation Services co-founder Lynn Krogh and Sean Fogerty, director of marketing, with Mark Stevenson, Embraer (APA).