Pilots

Eddie Franco — commercial pilot, multiengine and instrument flight instructor, Antarctic explorer, former professional blackjack player, and chief operating officer of one of the nation's largest professional electronic trading firms — doesn't think of his Piper Malibu Mirage as just transportation; it's also his office and his turbocharged tour bus.

Granco spends as many as 23 days every month on the road traveling among his company's 35 offices across the United States. He and his partner, Bob Bright, own and operate Bright Trading LLC, a professional direct-line trading firm formed in 1992 whose 400 traders are responsible for 2 to 2.5 percent of the total annual volume of shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

As chief operating officer, Franco oversees all of the day-to-day operations of Bright Trading and is responsible for identifying new office locations, recruiting managers, negotiating with service providers, and ensuring that Bright Trading remains on the cutting edge of technology.

In spring 1998, Franco realized that maintaining his travel schedule and his sanity meant finding an alternative to the commercial airlines. The solution was simple — he'd buy and fly his own plane. He'd already been a pilot for almost 30 years.

He's owned a variety of aircraft over the years and has logged more than 6,000 hours. Franco flew solely for pleasure until 1986, when he founded World Aircraft Exchange (WAE), buying used airplanes in the United States and then reselling them in Europe.

The idea for WAE was conceived during his first flight from the United States to Europe. He realized that the flight was an exciting challenge for a single pilot. It was then only a small step to taking advantage of the fact that used aircraft were far less expensive in the United States than they were across the pond, where eager buyers could be found.

For the next six years, WAE took requests for specific airplanes, found them, made the sales, and ferried them to buyers in France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and points around Europe. Most of the flights were trouble-free; Franco had the airplanes checked out carefully before he flew them. There were times, however, when his training and experience were put to the test. Ferrying a turbocharged Piper Lance from Newfoundland to the Azores, Franco discovered that his instruments were at odds with one another. The loran indicated that he'd passed his goal, while the ADF showed it was ahead. Franco used another instrument — his watch. Calculating his airspeed and route, he chose the ADF. He landed safely, and on time, at his destination.

Franco piloted many of the WAE flights himself but admits, with some wonder, that he's been in the air a great deal more every year since he cofounded Bright Trading. He purchased his 1997 Piper Malibu Mirage in June 1998. He has logged more than 500 hours — and more than 100,000 miles — crisscrossing the United States on business. The Malibu has given him the flexibility to be where he needs to be when he needs to be there. More important, Franco enjoys the time he spends in the air and has found that, even though he is traveling more than ever, his stress level is lower because he's at the controls pursuing one of his favorite activities.

Franco is a man of many interests and disparate talents. He once spent 105 days on the Antarctic icecap as a member of an expedition to the South Pole for the National Science Foundation. Franco later received a medal from the U.S. Congress for his participation in the expedition.

Franco also spent some time earning a living as a blackjack player. One day, in an epiphany, he realized that the skills required to be a winning blackjack or poker player were similar to the skills necessary for success in stock trading. He followed his friend and blackjack partner, Bob Bright, to the Pacific Stock Exchange (PSE). Franco became a career options market maker on the PSE while al.so operating his airplane resale business.

He and Bright realized that their trading concept could be the basis of an empire if applied to the emerging field of direct-line trading. They formed Bright Trading and haven't looked back.

"I know that pilots, like card players, tend to make good traders," offered Franco. "We have the focus, determination, skills, and the ability to make the necessary split-second decisions."