Pilots

Growing up near New York City's Curtiss Field and Idlewild Airport in the 1940s and 50s would naturally influence anyone with a spark of interest in aviation. Bob Osinski was no exception. As a schoolboy biking to these airports to watch airplanes, he was certain he would one day command an airliner for a living. But, like George Bailey, Jimmy Stewart's character in It's a Wonderful Life, things kept getting in the way. He never did find his way to the airlines.

What he found instead was fulfillment in the heart of Long Island's general aviation community. Today, thousands of pilots there have come to know him in his roles as instructor and pilot examiner. And if the definition of mentor encompasses one who inspires and teaches others, then Osinski is a rightful contender for the title of Long Island's preeminent general aviation mentor, too.

At age 16, Osinski traded up from a bicycle to his first car, a 1955 Ford. Inspired by the airliners he saw at Idlewild, he used his new- found mobility to visit Zahn's Airport in nearby Amityville, where he signed up for flying lessons. He soloed in a PA-11 there in 1958, with the definite aim of flying for a living. To round out his credentials while building time, he went to Inglewood, California, a few years later and enrolled in the Northrop-Rice Aviation Institute of Technology's Airframe and Powerplant School. He emerged with an A&P ticket in one hand and his new wife Marsha on the other. An opportunity to hire on with Pan American Airways as a sheet metal mechanic came up, and Osinski took it, mindful of his new responsibilities as a family man. The couple headed east and settled on Long Island, where Osinski began work at Idlewild (soon to be known as John F. Kennedy International) Airport. He later moved into Pan Am's jet engine overhaul division.

Mechanically minded, he enjoyed his work with the carrier, but he knew all along that his ultimate goal was to fly the airplanes he was working on. After several years with Pan Am, he left to work for Mid Island Air Service, a Long Island FBO based at Deer Park Airport. The company was in need of someone qualified as both flight instructor and mechanic. By now, Osinski had added the CFI rating to his ticket, and to him the job seemed a more natural stepping stone to an airline cockpit. It was 1965, and the aviation world was ripe with opportunity. Little did he suspect he would spend the next three decades working for the same FBO. But as it turned out, he would have preferred it no other way.

The mid-1960s were boom years for general aviation, and Osinski soon rose to the chief flight instructor position at the busy company. He managed a staff of 15 or so full-time instructors and found he really liked the job. With his reputation as both instructor and manager growing, he was selected by the FAA in 1968 to become a designated pilot examiner. At last count, he had more than 3,000 pilot examinations under his seat belt.

With 26,000 hours of general aviation flying experience ("...it would be a lot easier to try and name the GA aircraft I haven't flown than the ones I did..."), Osinski has some definite opinions on its future. For one, he is cautiously optimistic about the recently passed statute of repose. While it encourages him to think that manufacturers will build new airplanes again, he is concerned that operators of older aircraft may now become the primary targets of liability lawsuits. He is worried too that insurance for older aircraft may rise as a result of such lawsuits.

In the meantime, he offers the following advice to any FBO operator who hopes to be a long-term survivor. "Focus on quality service. It sounds like a 1990s buzzword, but that's exactly what it takes to develop long-term relationships. Produce a good product. Customers return to a place that has clean, well-maintained aircraft for rent and whose CFIs act and dress professionally." With Mid Island Air Service poised to celebrate a half century of business later this year, Osinski's words would appear to be right on target.

He also suggests that FBOs diversify their services in order to weather economic downturns. He points out that when he started his career with Mid Island, the company's rental fleet operated more than 25,000 flight hours a year and represented Mid Island's primary source of income. The total is less than half that today, but other segments of the business more than make up the shortfall. For instance, the company has built several large hangars which are subleased to corporate customers. It recently installed a Jet A fuel farm and generates substantial tiedown income at its Islip Mac Arthur Airport and Brookhaven Airport locations. (Deer Park Airport has long since closed.) And, he says, it's important to recognize that neither the economic upturns nor downturns last forever. "In slow times we sometimes had to remortgage our aircraft, but we always reinvested into the business during good times. That's why we're still here."

He also recommends that FBOs take the extra steps to become certified as FAR Part 141 schools, something he says will make them more attractive to students pursuing aviation careers. And for these kinds of aviators he offers the following food for thought. "If you want to fly for a living, don't be misled by the current employment situation. True, even entry level jobs are scarce right now and some of the commuter airlines want you to pay for your own flight training. But it's actually a good time to be entering the cycle — and make no mistake, it is a cycle. I've seen it before, only this time we aren't generating the numbers of new student starts that it will take to feed the demand later. My advice is to put your time in now. The jobs will be waiting for you."

Not everyone who considers learning to fly is looking for a new career option. In fact, Osinski is quick to point out that most new students are initially attracted to it because flying seems challenging or fun. To keep these new students interested, he suggests that flight instructors work at ways to demystify the learning process. "Someone who is looking to replace boating with flying, for example, mostly wants to have fun. If an instructor can show that person that learning to fly can be accomplished gradually, in small bites, chances are excellent he or she will stick with it long enough to get hooked."

Osinski has no doubt about what he thinks general aviation needs today. "If I could have three wishes granted, the first would be that the aircraft manufacturers start producing an affordable two-seat trainer again. The current training fleet is getting old. The trainers are what always built customer allegiance to a manufacturer's bigger airplanes. Next, the manufacturers need to take a more aggressive role in promoting flight training on a national level, like they used to. Even the biggest FBOs can't afford that kind of advertising program on their own." His last wish is one close to his heart. "We need to stop closing smaller airports. These are the grassroots kinds of places that have attracted people to flying since day one. Certain people are more comfortable learning to fly at a small strip than at a busy airport where they have to compete with MD-80s in the pattern." His words are obviously more than just an oblique reference to Curtiss Field and Zahn's, both long closed.

Sometimes it isn't so much the destination as it is the journey that counts most. Does he regret never having flown the heavy iron to far-flung destinations? "I think about it every now and then. But I'm happy right where I am."