Thursday, February 10, 2000
Jets become toys for rich
Shop thrives on flight fantasies
BY MARK SCHMETZER
Enquirer Contributor
HAMILTON — As a kid, Joe Bove would look up at white, puffy clouds and picture himself clutching the joystick of a fighter jet, streaking across the blue sky.
Today, Mr. Bove, of Bridgetown, can indulge those fantasies, thanks to Inverted Attitudes, a business created by Mark Hancock at the Hamilton-Fairfield Airport.
Mr. Bove, who operates Cincinnati Aerial Photography, owns an ISKRA TS-11 Polish military training jet that was refurbished by Inverted Attitudes. The company rebuilds foreign military training jets for use in the United States. It caters mainly to “warbird” aficionados who collect and fly military aircraft.
This is not a hobby for the budget-conscious. The jets sell for about $400,000. And fuel for a 40-minute flight costs more than $200.
“A lot of the people who want them are airline pilots or former military pilots,” Mr. Hancock said. “Basically, they're people who have too much money.”
Mr. Hancock, 30, is a licensed airframe and powerplant engineer-mechanic. He works with Rob Proffitt, a 28-year-old Hamilton High School graduate.
“This is not just a job,” Mr. Hancock said. “It's more like a hobby. Not many people in the world get to come to work and do something like this.”
Mr. Hancock, a Fairfield resident, gained experience in Florida as a shop foreman for US Air Express before moving to Ohio in 1996.
“This area has worked out good for us,” he said. “It's centrally located, which makes it easier for people to fly in.”
He started out refurbishing ISKRA TS-11 jets. Last March, he landed a contract with AirUSA, a Quincy, Ill., company, to recondition eight Aero L-39 Albatros, which are jet trainers developed in Czechoslovakia to be used as the standard trainers for the Czech and Soviet air forces, among others.
“We were struggling (financially) with just the ISKRA jets,” said Mr. Hancock. “The L-39s are a whole new market. This will help us set new levels.”
Each job requires about three months to complete, Mr. Hancock said. The L-39s, which are about 20 years old, are stripped down and parts are reconditioned or replaced with American-made parts — from cockpit switches to the lug nuts for the wheels.
Because the jets are trainers, they usually are unarmed, and if they have ejection seats, Mr. Hancock disengages them.
He has a Web site — www.inverted-attitudes.com — but much of his business comes from pilots who've heard about his services from other pilots, he said.
“The warbird community is very tight-knit, especially the jet warbird group,” he said. “I do get e-mails from all over the world from people asking about parts.”
He has just finished an L-39 being purchased by a Columbus auto dealer.
One of his first clients was Mr. Bove, a Deer Park High School graduate and real estate consultant. He has bought two ISKRA jets, but sold one to an Ann Arbor, Mich., psychiatrist.
“I'm of the opinion that if it doesn't affect the household budget, it's not a problem,” said Mr. Bove, a member of the Cincinnati Warbirds, a club for military aircraft enthusiasts based at Lunken Airport. “I guess there's a lot of kids who go through life and dream about Top Gun and being able to fly something like that. I enjoy aviation and all different types of aircraft, but one of the things that really, really gets me excited is those types of aircraft.
“Some people like red Corvettes; some like other vintage automobiles. I enjoy turbines.”
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