westwind(at)hdiss.net
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 Posted: Thu Apr 27, 2006 2:25 am Post subject: Palm Tree Air |
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Bob Siegfried's story rang a bell in my memory banks from 9 or more yrs. =
ago. One day while we were leasing & operating the 29 Palms county =
airport in 29 Palms,Ca. a Twin Beech made a fuel stop & it had a palm =
tree logo on its side along with Canadian registry. We greeted him with =
cheers thinking we might have another chance at a shuttle to ONT & LAS =
but he said he & the aircraft were on their way to far off lands.....he =
never elaborated on where those lands lay. Since he paid with a valid =
credit card & had all the pax seats in place we assumed he wasn't (as so =
many of our transients were) involved in the transport of "agricultural =
or chemical" products. Once my memory banks started working I recalled a =
period in the mid '80s when a bunch of the traffickers decided to end =
their runs by landing their usually stolen aircraft on a trail in the =
middle of the desert, torch the plane & jump on or in a previously =
stashed dirt bike or small single engine & theoretically =
disappear......not so....law enforcement loved the signal flares & =
plumes of smoke & usually arrested the dork pilots before they could =
count their money. Among the planes that met this fate were a very nice =
Aztec & a beautiful Aero Commander. We went to the A/C site but almost =
every salvageable part had disappeared......who says the desert is =
deserted? Shortly after this early one morning I get a call on the radio =
asking if the fuel pumps were open yet from an A/C .I gave him an affirm =
on the fuel & an airport advisory.....now there's nothing strange about =
early A.M. flying in the Mojave in summer,but something about the call =
sign he used bugged me....it ended in Oscar. The temp is a cool 101' F. =
as I step out into the pre dawn light to watch the landing & guide him =
to the pumps. At this time we didn't have fencing separating the parking =
lot from the ramp & fuel pumps & the 1st thing I see is 2 "unmarked" =
police cars that might as well had COP in 3' letters painted on the =
side. 4 guys get out dressed in spotless white tennis outfits complete =
with wrist & head sweat bands & white sweaters draped on their backs =
with the arms tied smartly around their necks. Now we are only 34nm.in a =
straight line from PSP (61 by road & about 190 if ATC is handling you) =
but the difference between PSP & TNP is about the same as Monte Carlo & =
Afghanistan so I ask the "tennis players" are you here to grab this guy? =
I don't know what you're talking about we're just stretching our legs =
on the way to the courts. The A/C taxies up to the pumps with the =
baggage door flapping in the prop wash & the worst job of N number =
altering I'd ever seen ( 1to7,5to6 & C to O not 0 but O). Yeah those =
courts ought to be a toasty 140+ by the time you get there....now level =
with me I don't want to get caught in the middle of your craziness! =
You're the one that's crazy, now leave us alone & go about your =
business! Now the pilot gets out, looks at the cars & tennis players & =
breaks into a sweat that has nothing to do with the desert heat. I ask =
do you want me to top it? No, 80 gal. should do it...I don't want to be =
too heavy in this heat. Yeah, a short 6040' runway can be tough on a =
Commander (by now I'm so tired of hearing B.S. from everyone I don't =
care who I P.O.) While I'm on the ladder I notice there's nothing =
inside from the panel to the rear of the baggage compartment but a pilot =
seat & acouple of empty pop cans & candy bar wrappers. Now the "players" =
start chatting with the sweating pilot about how cute his plane is & how =
lucky he is to go fly & watch the sunrise. I finish,the guy hands me a =
fistfull of cash, says I don't need a receipt, jumps in the plane & by =
now he's shaking so bad he can hardly push the starter buttons,makes a =
mid field T.O. with no preflight & disappears to the west. I say to one =
of the "players" I guess you just want to track him not nab him. I still =
don't know what you mean & he steps into the phone booth. I go into the =
office & pick up the bug from the phone booth & hear the "player" =
telling his boss :"naw nothing yet just some guy in his little plane out =
joyriding,but the old fart that runs this place made us somehow & =
claimed the guy was a runner...yeah they're all nutty out here". I pick =
up my phone & call our Customs narc (one of the few decent guys in the =
business) & tell him the story.....10min. later an R.V. roars into the =
lot & 4 of our desert rat narcs jump out, grab the players,cuff them,sit =
them down in the sand & wait 5min. till their boss choppers in. He tells =
the "players" they're the biggest jerks he ever laid eyes on,has them =
get their boss on the phone,tells him he's up for jackass of the month =
award & if he ever sees any of his "boys" east of L.A. he will =
personally shoot them. Then he told me that they had grabbed the plane & =
pilot but because the "players" had spooked the pilot he went to an =
alternate destination & ruined what was going to be a major drug bust. I =
said that's fine but we have all these atta boy certificates on our wall =
while other people are collecting reward money for locating stolen =
aircraft & you promised that if I still called you 1st before the =
insurance co. you would see that we got credit. That's right he said & =
it's all going in my report....not to worry!.....4yrs. later, while =
another certificate gathered dust on our wall, the courts were still =
trying to decide if the plane was really stolen & at least 1 bank & 1 =
insurance co.,2 federal agencies & the Sheriff of San Bernardino =
County(who had physical custody & refused to reveal its location) were =
fighting over custody of the plane. Maybe Sir Barry knows the final =
outcome. In the War onDrugs it seems the biggest & nastiest battles are =
fought rival enforcement agencies. We have many stories, some humorous & =
some sad about skirmishes that should never have been........Dan 77B
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