Airplane Repo The TV Series

...I watch the show for pure entertainment value - mainly just to see the planes. The fake emergencies are what crack me up. How about the guy flying the Kodiak last week (basically a mule airplane - like a Caravan) with about 8 boxes of wedding cakes and wine in the back. The 'load' shifts (ie; a few boxes fall over) and then it gets all dramatic like the load shifted so bad (what was probably 50 pounds at best) and now the airplane is out of CG and they need to land immediately. I'm like this plane has a ~4000lb useful load...50 pounds of crap moving around in the back ain't gonna do crap.

Embarassing show really...
 
kenjr said:
...I watch the show for pure entertainment value - mainly just to see the planes. The fake emergencies are what crack me up. How about the guy flying the Kodiak last week (basically a mule airplane - like a Caravan) with about 8 boxes of wedding cakes and wine in the back. The 'load' shifts (ie; a few boxes fall over) and then it gets all dramatic like the load shifted so bad (what was probably 50 pounds at best) and now the airplane is out of CG and they need to land immediately. I'm like this plane has a ~4000lb useful load...50 pounds of crap moving around in the back ain't gonna do crap.

Embarassing show really...
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And the boxes bounced off the ceiling but the wedding cake and glassware were unharmed.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
 
Martymccasland said:
FWIW, I learned from watching my first episode of the show this afternoon that Piper made a 6 seat retractable gear "Archer" -- "that flies at 125 miles per hour".

'Learn something new everyday. :)
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You noticed that too?

I'm trying to figure out which computer graphic program it's using for the aircraft and sooper simple animation.
 
I don't understand all this creeping around trying to get on the airport. Why don't they just buy and load up a plane with all that they need for a repo (they always seem to be borrowing tools, bolt cutters, fuses etc.) and fly into the darn airport where they are trying to repo a plane? Fly both of them out and job done? There's lots of things about this program that don't make any sense....

- Tim
 
kenjr said:
...I watch the show for pure entertainment value - mainly just to see the planes. The fake emergencies are what crack me up. How about the guy flying the Kodiak last week (basically a mule airplane - like a Caravan) with about 8 boxes of wedding cakes and wine in the back. The 'load' shifts (ie; a few boxes fall over) and then it gets all dramatic like the load shifted so bad (what was probably 50 pounds at best) and now the airplane is out of CG and they need to land immediately. I'm like this plane has a ~4000lb useful load...50 pounds of crap moving around in the back ain't gonna do crap.

Embarassing show really...
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Admittedly, I watched that episode last night.

They took off in a citation which suddenly had an inop radio, then they conveniently found one in back. All the while talking about how a collision was likely... As if they couldn't stay out of the C/D whatever airspace they were either in or going to enter.

At another point, Kodiak maybe? It sounded like the pilot was making the normal calls for a non-towered airport, and then someone told him cleared to land.

I could go on about the episode but I won't haha.

I realize reality shows aren't usually entirely accurate, but this one is especially bad. I'm no aircraft repo man but as was alluded a few posts earlier, I'm betting real-life aircraft repos don't go like that, at all.
 
I kind of like it -- it was watch either airplane repo or sharknado.
 
ApacheBob said:
Yeah, it was pretty fake. But it does talk about flying small airplanes. We need more conversations like this before they ground us all!
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The show talks about GenAv writ large as "playthings of the 1%". That's not good for us. If any serious number of people not already acquainted with GA were watching, I'd be worried. But as it is, they are re-running 4 of the total ~8 episodes in existence back-to-back twice a week. Satistically speaking, no one is watching the show -- and those of us who are know better. Meh.
 
Who the hell is this sleeveless ******* who is flying this Citation 5? This show keeps raising the bar of insanity...
 
Did the narrator really say the were off in "hot pursuit" of a LearJet as the Stinson broke ground?

:rolleyes::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
I realize that Mike Rowe is just reading the script handed to him, but the writers have a terrible sense of geography...

"No Rescue Repo" has Mike Lane driving "at an airfield in central texas..."

Uhh, wrong. He's at KDTO, Denton, Texas. North of Dallas and Fort Worth. Seeing the hangar with US Aviation blazed across it is the give away. And last I checked the map, we're no where near "central" Texas.

Oh well.. fun to catch their mistakes. And it's still airplane pron.
 
Oh I'm laughing harder now...

"Check the west end of the airport.." Yeah, sure... have you seen the map and that we're north south oriented and there is nothing on the west side of the runway??

And they ask one of the US Aviation Chinese students if he has seen a heweoptar.

This has totally proven to me how much of this is staged for dramatic benefit.

Thanks Discovery channel for the laughter... I needed it.
 
Speaking of Mike Rowe, has his career really got to the point that he needs to be a part of this abortion?
 
SCCutler said:
Not fake. Cheesy, but not fake.

Friend of mine is involved (you hear his voice on every show). Great stories.
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I always feel like a voyeur when I watch it. :devil: :redface:
 
Funkeruski said:
Speaking of Mike Rowe, has his career really got to the point that he needs to be a part of this abortion?
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Notice he never appears on the show. Lots of actors/celebrities do voice endorsements over on-camera, specifically to avoid being tattooed with any one brand. I've read that if the voice is vaguely familiar to the listener, it captures their attention (which is good for the advertiser), but the identity of the speaker doesn't stick. Probably similar dynamic going on here.

I guess they couldn't afford to re-edit or re-shoot the title sequence. It talks about yachts as well as planes, but I've not seen the show stray from its "Airplane Repo" title. Also, there are only so many bizjets to be repoed, I guess, considering how they feature so many piston singles. Kind of gets off message from their "Lifestyles of the 1%" meme (cue Robin Leach), but you do what you have to to get the show in the can, I suppose.
 
I can't believe I watch this show, but I guess I'm starved for any TV involving GA.

Several things caught my attention on the last episode. To begin with they began chasing a Lear Jet in a Stinson. Secondly they went to the aerobatics competition at North Texas Regional, an airport I go in and out of frequently. When they lifted off with their "stolen" plane, I don't know what airport it was, but I DO know that it was NOT North Texas Regional.

Also, wouldn't it be common sense that if you were "stealing" planes with a payday in the tens of thousands or more, that you could afford a handheld radio and handheld aviation GPS?
 
Can somebody that has knowledge of the repossession process chime in here?

I'm willing to be there are official papers for each repo in the form of a court order (?) which should allow the crew unfettered access to the aircraft when they show up to take it away. Why are they always under the cloak of darkness as if they are actually stealing it when they have full legal right to the aircraft? I know it makes for "exciting" television viewing but how is the process really carried out by professionals?
 
My dad repo'ed all sorts of things, but not airplanes. The businessman -- he owned a farm implement store -- would merely call my dad, say something like "This fellow is three payments behind on his tractor -- go to this address and take it back."

Dad didn't contact anybody. He just went there, started it, drove it up on a trailer, and left.

On one occasion, he repossessed a battery right out of the truck it was in.
 
tinerj said:
My dad repo'ed all sorts of things, but not airplanes. The businessman -- he owned a farm implement store -- would merely call my dad, say something like "This fellow is three payments behind on his tractor -- go to this address and take it back."

Dad didn't contact anybody. He just went there, started it, drove it up on a trailer, and left.

On one occasion, he repossessed a battery right out of the truck it was in.
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Huh ...:dunno::dunno:..

The repo fee had to have been more then the cost of the battery ??:confused::rolleyes2:
 
There is definitely quite a bit of re-enactments going on, so take it all with a grain of salt. I think it was the Lear that they had 3 minutes on last night, and they had been hiding in the hangar while the guy was upstairs.

Magically, as they pushed the plane out of the hangar, it had video cameras mounted on the wingtip in one of the shots.

The guys that snow shoed into the hunting lodge in Alaska, snuck up on the Beaver and flew off. Then set down on a glacier, and had a tool box to pull the cowl and "perform a minor tune-up". Don't think the tool box was in their backpacks, maybe it was magically in the plane.

That being said, the show has some strange attraction to watch. Maybe it is a lack of other options?
 
The Bell 206 repo... That wasn't a legit Denton police officer. A) there are no unmarked Crown Vics of that year series here, and B) wrong uniform and badge design. And C) KDTO does not employ their own rent-a-cop force.

Someone like Mr. Lacey could have quickly viewed the uniform and badge (worn on the actors shirt) and quickly seen he was a fake. And then asked the fellow to quit interfering.

So yeah... a whole heap of manufactured drama...
 
N801BH said:
Huh ...:dunno::dunno:..

The repo fee had to have been more then the cost of the battery ??:confused::rolleyes2:
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I was actually with him when he repo'ed the battery. It was pretty far out in the boonies, well away from town. Don't understand how the money works on something like that. The implement dealer had a great reputation for good equipment at a low price AND easy credit. Had to come down quickly on guys who took advantage of that, maybe.
 
I worked with a guy who had a side job doing car repos. One night they found a car they'd been looking for for several weeks. It was parked behind a bar. He went inside to keep an eye on the (former) owner while the wrecker hooked up and drove away. He figured, why not? So he had a beer at the bar, sitting next to the guy, and started BSing about football or whatever.

A couple weeks later, the same car was getting repo'd from the same guy at the same bar. My buddy said he went in and had another beer and asked the guy how it was going. The guy started complaining that the last time he was there his car got repo'd.
 
The show is horrible! Even with all the fake emergencies and forced drama. However I keep trying to watch it, just because it has GA planes in it!! I'm a very sick person.....:nonod:
 
At least with the prior version (Popovich) there was a clear explanation of the paperwork, the legal issues, the need for a ferry permit with an A&P or the FAA approving it. Guess there wasn't enough excitement doing it the real way.
 
murphey said:
At least with the prior version (Popovich) there was a clear explanation of the paperwork, the legal issues, the need for a ferry permit with an A&P or the FAA approving it. Guess there wasn't enough excitement doing it the real way.
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As I mentioned previously, I recall at least one instance of sneaking around and lying to law enforcement in the Popvich episodes.
 
JoseCuervo said:
The guys that snow shoed into the hunting lodge in Alaska, snuck up on the Beaver and flew off. Then set down on a glacier, and had a tool box to pull the cowl and "perform a minor tune-up". Don't think the tool box was in their backpacks, maybe it was magically in the plane.
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Not only that, there was a shot of them taking off from the glacier from the ground. Did they leave one cameraman behind so he could get the shot then come back for him?
 
the400kid said:
Not only that, there was a shot of them taking off from the glacier from the ground. Did they leave one cameraman behind so he could get the shot then come back for him?
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Think of it this way. There is reality, and then there is recreation of reality based on two or three re-tellings by the main character while his buddies listen in a bar.

In other words, this show is hangar flying at its best.
 
tinerj said:
Think of it this way. There is reality, and then there is recreation of reality based on two or three re-tellings by the main character while his buddies listen in a bar.

In other words, this show is hangar flying at its best.
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:yes: Absolutely.

If you're not a Pilot geek, who cares what's behind the curtain and if you are, you won't find a better set of aviation "fish" stories anywhere, certainly not on television.
 
Should I even mention Weather Channels Plane Xtreme, which chronicle's pilots ferrying aircraft all around the world? One such episode last season had two guys flying a 172 from central florida to Pensacola apparently VFR but flew much of it in IMC conditions.
 
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murphey said:
At least with the prior version (Popovich) there was a clear explanation of the paperwork, the legal issues, the need for a ferry permit with an A&P or the FAA approving it. Guess there wasn't enough excitement doing it the real way.
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You just know that they thought that the Popovich story was a good premise but not dramatic enough so...

Say! How about when you get the jet up in the air you say that the radios aren't working and that means you could have a mid air!
 
the400kid said:
Not only that, there was a shot of them taking off from the glacier from the ground. Did they leave one cameraman behind so he could get the shot then come back for him?
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Did you hear the helicopter in the background as they approached the lodge - "on foot for 4 hours?"
 
the400kid said:
Not only that, there was a shot of them taking off from the glacier from the ground. Did they leave one cameraman behind so he could get the shot then come back for him?
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Heh, was wondering the same thing when I saw that episode. Only saw a couple episodes. There are so many laughable aspects, but I enjoy seeing the airplanes.

Not sure if this was mentioned in the thread yet, but I remember one episode where the repo guys were in a float plane cessna "tracking" another float plane cessna to some lake (so basically, can you fly in close formation without the other guy knowing?). Then when they landed, the repo guy realizes the plane needs more oil. So he conveniently finds a bottle of aviation oil in the back of some guy's pickup truck.

Then, just when he's about to prepare the aircraft, some party goers decide to do some lovemaking inside the aircraft, while the repo guy hides in the lake for an hour. Yeah right, lol.
 
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You know, I think he specifically mentions that it was regular automotive oil, but that "it would do the trick" for a short flight.
 
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