About Us

My struggle as a pilot began in the 80's. After getting all the necessary licenses and ratings, I started renting small airplanes to build my hours. This of course required all of the savings that I had and created a second mortgage on my townhouse. When I finally got my first job as a pilot, my wife and I were so excited, but not long after I started, they went bankrupt. After some time, I landed my 2nd flying job which meant living across the U.S. from my wife for a year and a half. I would make it home about 4 days a month, but we did what we had to for this wonderful opportunity (making $900.00 per month living in a crash pad with 2 other pilots and not seeing much of my wife or home). Then I left this job when an opportunity with an upstart airline came up in my home state. It was great to be home, but they too went bankrupt after about a year.

Then I was with a few more commuter airlines (which means small airlines with small planes that will pay you peanuts because they know that you need to build your hours and you will basically work for free) and some cargo airlines (which means flying all night and trying to sleep when everyone else is awake). Of course, every time you start with a new airline, you are lowest on the list as far as seniority which means that you get the worst trips, that no one else wants to fly and you are on reserve (which means that you have to be ready within a certain time, usually one or two hours after they call you to go to who knows where). (If it is a cargo airline it also means trying to figure out when they might call you, so that you know when to sleep). Mind you, each time you start with a different airline, there comes a couple months of training, usually away from home and most of the time at your expense, which means you pay the cost of the hotel and food for about 60 days. (That means around $3,000 to $5,000 in expenses everytime that you start with a different airline).

My eighth and what I thought would be the final airline was United Airlines. We had made it! Finally at a major airline, life was going to be great! We would be out of debt in 4 years according to our plans. Then the unthinkable happened. September Eleventh! I soon found myself furloughed again along with thousands of others. (This is done in seniority, the last ones hired are the first to go) (Again, meaning, me).

This time the unemployment lasted about a year until I finally got on with a cargo airline (many steps backwards in my career, but happy to have a flying job). I was there less than 3 months when two days after Christmas, it was ho, ho, ho, you are furloughed!

It is now January, and I find myself without work again, now thinking about bankruptcy. We had always planned to pay off our debt eventually, but now we are struggling to avoid bankruptcy. Each time I started with a different airline, it meant an increase in our debt and having to live off the credit cards during the periods of unemployment. This has left us with credit cards debts of about $30,000.00. This is our last effort to raise money to pay our debt before having to file bankruptcy. And yes, my wife works (actually she has three part time jobs).

By the way, our credit card usage was just for survival/daily living. We have no toys (such as a boat, ATV, jet ski, etc.), we don't even have a big screen TV or a DVD player. Our 2 cars are both over 5 years old. In the last 15 years, we haven't bought any new furniture except for one couch, on which we still owe $1,200.00 (by March 2003 to avoid the accrued interest). And we pride ourselves on never having been late on a payment. We have refinanced our house and have taken all the equity out of our home through a home equity loan. We also owe our relatives over $20,000.00 in loans.

It is hard for us to ask for money, but WE NEED YOUR HELP. So that is why we are offering our products for sale. You may purchase on-line or by mail. If you don't see anything that you would like to purchase, please feel free to make a donation. Thank you.

April update: Good news! I am now in ground school with my 7th airline since my son was born, he is still 7 years old. Anyway, I'm very lucky to have gotten another flying job in today's environment. It is with another cargo airline, very small, but also very friendly. I think that I will enjoy working there, but I don't think that the pay alone will save me from bankruptcy. My website has not been as successful as I had hoped. Please check out my products page and you will also see my newest product that I have designed, the American flag for your car/truck antenna. I designed it after I discovered that my local supermarket chain was selling American flags made in China. I know that most of the things that we buy are made somewhere other than in the United States, but the American Flag!