Wing man | Jeff Russell bets on the romance of classic Piper Cubs to get his new Millinocket flight school off the ground

Probably every little boy, at some point, wishes he could fly. As an eight-year-old, Jeff Russell's longing for wings was particularly acute. "I remember sitting on the front steps of my house and watching planes going overhead and crying because I wasn't on one," says the Hampden-based entrepreneur.

By the time he was fifteen, Russell was taking flying lessons at the airport in his hometown of Millinocket. After college he went into the business of aviation ˆ— from the ground, though, doing airport marketing. Now, at 41, he's going home, and he's taking his plane and his love of flying with him, hoping to find a lot of other grown-up boys and girls who want to fly.

In June, Russell will open the Center for Classic Aircraft Skills at the Millinocket Municipal Airport. The venture will be a combination flight school and sightseeing service that takes would-be pilots up over the Katahdin area's famous backcountry, past the mountain, along the West Branch of the Penobscot, over Ripogenus Dam and out across the 100 Mile Wilderness ˆ— Maine's bush pilot country.

"This is the first light-sport aircraft adventure flying company," Russell says. "I just clearly felt that it was the right time to [launch] a company, which at its heart is resort-based flying adventures and training. It's a whole new perspective of seeing Maine."

Russell has an almost spiritual zeal about flying, and about one plane in particular. He's building the company around Piper Cubs ˆ— small, two-seat, tail-wheel planes that hark back to the Second World War and have seen their share of adventure. They can be fitted with floats and skis and can land comfortably on backcountry grass airfields, making them a legendary model for bush flying.

Small planes like Cubs are becoming more popular than ever, thanks to a 2004 Federal Aviation Administration rule change that simplified the licensing of sport pilots, making it much easier ˆ— and more affordable ˆ— to get into the cockpit. As a result of these changes, flying aficionados like Russell expect a rush of new students looking for flying instruction.
To serve that market here in Maine and nationwide, Russell established CCAS in 2005 with a rapidly expandable business model. Working with partners in other states, Russell currently is establishing multiple CCAS schools in locales such as Florida and California that offer year-round flying seasons.

But will wannabe sport pilots also head up to the remote town of Millinocket for flight instruction? That's the big question. Jeff Russell thinks so, and he's either a visionary who can see a burgeoning, high-end tourism market developing in the North Woods, or he's letting his love for flying cloud his business judgment.

Cleared for takeoff
Flying experts say there is no doubt the FAA's rule changes, creating the light sport aircraft designation and the sport pilot's license, will change aviation. "We know that there are a lot of people who want to learn to fly but who either didn't have the time or money to do so," says Dick Knapinski, spokesman of the Experimental Aircraft Association, a nationwide, recreational flying member organization. "Traditionally out of every 100 [student pilots] fewer than 35 actually finish."

A couple of years ago ˆ— under the old rules ˆ— someone wanting to earn their wings would need a minimum of 40 hours of flight training, says Knapinski, which could cost $5,000-$6,000. The new sport pilot license reduces that requirement to twenty hours, and reduces the costs by half, Knapinski estimates.

The law essentially did away with the sorts of things sport pilots didn't really need to know anyway ˆ— night flying, working with air traffic control, flying in high traffic ˆ— and it only requires a driver's license to get started, rather than a medical exam.

As a result, new sport pilots can concentrate on the essentials. "They'll learn what everybody learns ˆ— how an airplane works, safe operation, takeoffs and landings, navigation ˆ— all of that is part of the first 20-25 hours of training anyway," says Knapinski.
The law is already having an effect. In the past two years, according to Knapinski, there have been twenty models of planes certified as LSA ˆ— and they're cheaper than ever.
Older small plane models like a Cessna 172 Skyhawk cost about $200,000, he says, whereas new LSA models can cost as little as $60,000. "It reaches out to those people who enjoy outdoor recreation and tells them flying is possible for them ˆ— and affordable," says Knapinski. "There is a large market out there [for it]."

But first they have to learn to fly, and Jeff Russell wants to be the guy who teaches them. Russell grew up in Millinocket and used the money he made working summers at the local mill to help pay for Colby College in Waterville, graduating in 1987. Then it was on to the University of Maine School of Law in Portland and a job at PretiFlaherty. "Like many lawyers, I hit a point where I was struggling with family versus work issues," says the father of two.

Wanting to be home more than he could as a lawyer, he started a consulting company in 1996 that handled risk management. One of the sidelines for his new venture was aviation consulting, which brought Russell to the attention of Bob Ziegelaar, at the time the head of Bangor International Airport. Soon Russell was working for Ziegelaar, marketing the growing airport.

Russell left the airport in 2004, a couple years after Ziegelaar did. Rather than look for another job, he decided to start his own aviation consulting business, JeffAir LLC. "We work with airports to figure out how to grow their business and work smarter," says Russell.
The new outdoor adventure

The Center for Classic Aircraft Skills builds on Russell's aviation marketing experience, as well as his own background as a pilot. The school will offer an array of options to new pilots, from an $80, hour-long adventure that gives walk-ons a taste of Cub flying to specialty classes in bush skills, to week-long programs after which a student walks out with a sport license.

And Russell thinks Millinocket, located near so many of Maine's natural wonders, is the ultimate base for bush flying. Besides the FAA rule change, he says the changes he sees in his old hometown, as it slowly transitions from mill town to outdoor recreation hub, make it seem ideal for CCAS. "We could see an opportunity up here," he says. "There's a tremendous amount of change in that area."

Russell is not alone thinking that upscale tourism is in the region's economic future. He cites the growth of Matt Polstein's New England Outdoor Center in Millinocket, which already offers rafting, camping, lodging and restaurant facilities and is planning a high-end resort on Millinocket Lake (see "Return of the grand hotel," Feb. 6). "I figured we could dovetail quite nicely with Matt's plans," says Russell. "We could send him business, he could send us business."

The town's location on the edge of the North Woods also gives Russell more selling points to lure customers to CCAS. Flying students could take part in other outdoor activities, such as rafting, hiking, fishing and camping ˆ— while rafters, hikers, campers and other visitors could also be offered the chance for a flight in a Cub.

Russell believes the tourists who already flock to the Katahdin region ˆ— and the hundreds more who may come north to stay at Polstein's new venture ˆ— are going to have a profound effect on Millinocket's economy. "Six or seven years from now you'll see four- and six-seat jets on the runway at Millinocket airport as people come up from the cities for the weekend," Russell says. "You'll notice them from an economic standpoint as well."
Bruce McLean is bullish on Millinocket, too ˆ— but that's his job. McLean is the executive director of the Millinocket Area Growth and Investment Council, and he's also a pilot. He's wholeheartedly behind CCAS. "It's about sharing the love of flying with the love of the region," he says. "Put those two together and it's a no-brainer."

Will the money be there, though? Are there enough people who visit Millinocket that will want to spend $80 on an hour-long flying lesson? Recent studies by the Eastern Maine Development Corporation have "shown that there is a pocket of wealth with an interest in doing things like this, that are looking for outdoor experience," says McLean. "I think there are plenty of visitors here who would ˆ— or could ˆ— be interested, and if you can market it to them you'll be fine."

Refining that marketing approach, says McLean, will be key to CCAS' success ˆ— and to the growth of the region's tourism business in general "There's already so much to do in this region," he says. "A lot of it is a hodge-podge, though, and we have to do a little better job in packaging it for people."

The Cub experience
In the two years since the FAA rule change, though, LSA flight schools haven't seemed to catch on beyond the niche market of flying aficionados. Katie Pribyl, a spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.-based General Aviation Manufacturer's Association, says the number of student pilots remained steady in 2004 and 2005. "We haven't seen an increase or a decrease since the rule change," she says, "but we assumed it would take a few years to ramp up and we're optimistic about where it's heading."

Nor have people been flocking to Millinocket Municipal Airport for lessons from existing instructors, says Tony Cesare, who runs West Branch Aviation, a flight school, sightseeing company and operator of the airport. Instruction is a small part of West Branch's business, he says. "There is not a real robust economy up here for that kind of business."

Still, sightseeing flights keep him busy during the high season, and he thinks the outlook is good for CCAS. "To offer the vintage flying, scenic [flights], excursions, guided flights ˆ— that market is out there, and Jeff's strong suit is marketing," Cesare says. "How quick it will work in the Millinocket area is the question."

To that end, Russell intends to rely on the "vintage flying" angle ˆ— and the venerable reputation of Piper Cubs and their ilk ˆ— to set his flight school apart from the competition. Pilots everywhere have an affinity for the planes, says Russell, and because so many pilots learned to fly in them, there's a great nostalgia factor. "It's one thing to be a pilot," says Russell. "It's another thing to fly a Cub."

Cesare agrees the appeal of the older planes can't be denied. "I've watched people fly here in little jets look at a Cub and say, 'That's what I'd really like to be flying,'" he says.
To help tug at those Cub heartstrings, Russell plans to visit places like the Owls Head Transportation Museum and make appearances at the famous Greenville fly-in. But a marketing hook, however, isn't the only strategy Russell is relying on for his Millinocket venture. He also designed a flexible business model for CCAS that will allow him to share fixed costs like airplane purchases and maintenance across several markets.

CCAS is in many ways a virtual company, in which many things are done by cell phone and laptop. Each of his employees is either an individual contractor or is employed by another enterprise in a joint venture with CCAS. Student scheduling will be done via the Internet, so there isn't even a need for a person on the ground. "Instantaneously at the end of the day, we can know how much we made, where we need to be, what the next day looks like, where the assets need to be allocated," Russell says.

CCAS' timeline for its Millinocket venture is fairly firm ˆ— Russell says he's going to give it two years. "I expect we'll break even the first year and make some money the next," he says.

Russell also says he knows just how much he needs to make per week to make the business fly, though he would not discuss specific figures for estimated costs or revenues. "Airplanes are not cheap," he says. "An airplane has to fly at least 10 hours a week to earn its keep."

But Russell plans to spread that risk across each of the CCAS bases, moving the four planes the company owns and the five others leases back to operating companies wherever they're needed. The company is already expanding into Los Angeles and St. Louis and is setting up a base at Winter Haven, Fla., where the Maine planes will fly in the winter. Russell also is talking with potential partners in Atlanta, Colorado, and upstate New York. "We can easily scale up or we can scale down," says Russell.

As a result, If CCAS doesn't work out the way he wants in Millinocket, Russell can simply fly off into the sunset and "relocate his assets." "We have no shortage of opportunities, of other places who want a CCAS," Russell notes.

Still, he has high hopes for his old hometown. "Will we succeed here? We'll probably get by," he muses. "But it's really the experience that counts, seeing people get that Cub grin on their face. It's very important to fly a Cub. It's one of those things everyone should do in life."