T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

[Bojambles]

Greetings,

This T-Craft owner will be appearing in a new Discovery Channel series called "Airplane Repo".

Although the show is not about the T-Craft, my lil T-Craft will make a few cameo appearances in the program.

The premier is to be Thursday July 11, 2013 at 9:00pm central time. We shot 10 episodes for the series and hopefully they will air all 10 and maybe get invited back for season 2.

[Bojambles]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

thought I would post a link to discovery channels web page

http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/airplane-repo

[M Towsley]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

Whoo-hoo Kevin. Loved the show, keep promoting our T-Crafts!

[lawheelock]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

Watched the show tonight. Several in flight shots of Lacy's 108-3. Also a flash view of his Taylorcraft nose grill.
My only criticism of the show is the "wham, bamm, no thank you Mamm" type of presentation that is the norm for appealing to the younger crowd these days. This old head, eyes, and ears has trouble keeping up with all the sudden "change" and fast jumps, millisecond scenes, etc. Noticed that they blanked out all the N numbers on the "stolen" planes recovered. Lots of good in-flight shots as well, even from the Stinson.
Larry Wheelock Taylorcraft N96179, Stinson N584LW, Mooney N79806, TF #671

[Bojambles]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

actually, that is Gary's Stinson, but the T-Craft is mine.

I can't control what they do in the editing room, but overall, I guess it came out pretty good.

Stay tuned, we shot 9 more episodes, and if the show gets enough "likes" or "twits" or what ever that stuff is, we may get asked to do another season.

[DPKII]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

I watched the show last night and enjoyed it for the most part. I loved the Taylorcraft and Stinson shots. It was nice seeing something besides spam cans and bizjets on the show!
I think the producers did take the "Texas" cultural aspect a little over the top.

Thanks,
David

[ajfriz]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

That's a beautiful taylorcraft.


Oh yeah, the show was good too

[Bojambles]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

well, look at who they have to work with

[N-43121]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

Ok ... I must say, I do enjoy this show, but tonight's episode is one of the better comedy routines I've seen in a long time. Repo man Mike is out to bag a super cub in "Alaska's wilderness". This thing is so over-dramatized and poorly produced, it's a laugh-fest at our house this evening!

The producers try to convince the viewers that he is deep in the heart of an inhospitable wilderness; that he had to take a two day trek through a remote area, including a 10 mile hike across a frozen lake; overnight in the forest surrounded by hungry man-eating wolves; swap to skis which make it very dangerous to turn and stop; a runway at 400-ft elevation that presented similar problems to a high elevation, high density Idaho runway where a Stinson crashed into the trees last year; a very dangerous task of hand propping a plane and narrowly avoid be chopped up by the spinning prop and a take off which barely cleared the trees.

In reality, it appeared the location was near Big Lake here in the Mat-Su Valley, in the heart of civilization!

Ah the magic of clever camera angles and footage from other areas.

I guess that's why it's called entertainment!

What fun ...

I'll keep watching though.

On the same episode, there was another nice cameo appearance of Kevin's pretty Taylorcraft (with chrome valve covers).

Rod

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

Yea, anyone notice the shots from the cockpit as he left were no longer a Super Cub? Had a metal frame door on the left with rounded edges, kind of like the Cessna he started with. Then again, why not just use a helicopter to fly in and check out the runway and just fly the thing out?

Hank

I wonder how they built that hangar WAY OUT THERE in the wilderness, and WHY anyone would, with nothing there but a hangar and outhouse? No cabin? No shed for the stored equipment like the skis? How did the owner get out and why leave the plane there when he left? Did kind of make me nervous when he jerked on the tail to turn the plane on the skis. Those gear legs were REALLY flexing!

[crispy critter]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

Not to mention an Alaskan native and his first takeoff on skis....plus they didn't mention anything about his first landing on skis. And that poor camera man was left behind to walk back out carrying all that equipment.

It also gave you the impression that he was pulling the prop thru with the mags hot, I didn't care much for that part, might give some folks bad ideas to try.

I laughed my but off at most of it. I really do enjoy watching the show but it is just that, a show. I was almost embarressed at how over dramatized parts of it was while my poor little wife was setting on the couch hitting her nails, wondering if he was gonna clear the trees and talking to how crazy those people are to do such things. Then makes me promise never to do those things myself....little does she know, I've had her into strips half that length in a 170,lol.

Kevin Lacey's rolls with the jets were also pretty dramatized but much more believable. I like his sneaky approaches to getting in....gotta watch those taylorcraft owners, they are a sly bunch,lol.

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

What I don't understand is they HAVE the paperwork from the bank to repossess. All they should have to do is walk into the airport office with the Sheriff, present the papers, have the airport people either open the hangar (every hangar I have ever rented the airport had a key) or cut the lock and seize the plane. Why all the drama? Maybe if it is on a private field or in the wilderness where the "owner" is prepared to fight you for "stealing" his plane, but at a regular airport? Come on!
If the guy in Alaska had come across him and shot him, the courts would have probably let the "owner" walk. "I came out of the woods and some guy, with a hand gun, was stealing my plane. I would have been left for dead in the "wilderness" so I tagged him with my deer rifle". Case closed. Would you risk being wounded, or dead, after being shot by some stranger who was stealing your plane? You don't "confront" them, you drop them out there. You don't take a mans only way out (potentially). They shot people for stealing horses, the same is probably true for a mans plane in the wild.

Hank

Not that he was in the wild. By the way, when he overflew the hangar, why didn't he save the GPS location? Why risk walking "miles past the site" out in the "wilderness". Fun show, but reality TV is NOT reality!

[Pearson]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

Hank,

You hit the nail on the head when you said "reality TV is NOT reality". I did some contract work for a couple of guys who were in the business of repossessing airplanes. They did exactly what you suggested, they had paperwork and called the sheriff ahead of time. Even with that, it is still a tense moment when you first inform someone that you are there to take their airplane away. The shows producers like to "enhance" the drama in order to make the public sit on the edge of their seats.

I own property in Texas that has opposing ramparts from some long ago battle. While watching the TV show "America Unearthed", they had a blurb in the credits about if you knew of something interesting to contact them. I emailed them thinking they might want to do an episode about what war it may have been that constructed the ramparts. An assistant producer called to ask all sorts of questions. It was disgusting. Through her questions, it was obvious they over hype everything. After a couple of conversations, I just stopped returning her calls. I don't watch "reality" TV anymore.

My neighbor told me of a similar experience he had with a show about bidding on storage units where people haven't paid the rent. He is retired and buys the contents from the storage units to sell on Ebay and Craigslist. He told me the show was salting the storage units with valuable items near the door to entice bidders to up the ante. He said that show has ruined the business for him because it attracts people who overbid for the units.

[Bird]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

True TV is anything but true

[akndrifter]

Re: T-Craft owner to be on Discovery Channel "Airplane Repo"

I know reality tv is not reality, but it is still way more fun to watch TV with airplanes in it!