Trouble Is, My Plane Isn't A Piper... And IS In
Pieces
by ANN Senior E-Media Producer Paul Plack
When I got the letter in
the mail, I thought it was a scam. The folks at Bowen &
Associates in Lewisville, TX informed me that because I had ignored
previous invoices seeking payment of my balance of $152, my account
with Miracle Strip Aviation at the Destin, FL Airport had been
referred to them for collection.
Quote -- "It is our intent to pursue collection of this debt
through every means available to us. We extend this opportunity to
settle this debt in a friendly manner. You may either pay this debt
in full to my office or you must call...at once."
I was curious on several levels. I don't have an account with
Miracle Strip Aviation, and I've never been to the Destin Airport.
While I've taken a few manufacturer demo flights in Florida in the
course of reporting work, I've never refueled an aircraft anywhere
in the state. I've never seen an invoice from Miracle Strip
Aviation.
If you've ever had something like this happen to you, you know
your mind races through possibilities. There was an Embry Riddle
student with a name similar to mine who didn't pay his bills in
Florida back in the early 1990s, and that started a bunch of
erroneous collection calls coming to me -- was he back? Did an
Aero-News corporate expense somehow wind up under my name? Was I
the victim of identity theft?
Was the envelope postmarked in Nigeria?
Actually, it turns out, it may have been dyslexia... or poor
penmanship. The folks at Miracle Strip told ANN they'd serviced a
Piper airplane with a tail number of N954P in April 2007, and never
been paid. Apparently they looked up my N-number somewhere that
listed an old address, so I never got their invoices.
They also missed a big detail. N954P is mine all right... but it
looks nothing like anything built by Piper. It's a Sport Copter
Vortex gyroplane that's still under construction (below).
There's not much they could have sold me for it but fuel, and
with a total capacity of 9 US gallons, there's no way my aircraft
could take $152 worth of avgas, even at Miracle Strip's current
rate of $6.94 a gallon. That is, if my aircraft was even built
yet.
The guy at the collection agency, who got my correct address
from the FAA database, said a lineman wearing gloves probably wrote
down the number illegibly. Vicki, and the other folks at Miracle
Strip, were very nice when I called them and got the whole thing
straightened out. I'm starting to calm down, but at the same time,
a chilling thought has come to mind.
What if this same FBO lineman, instead of recording the wrong
N-number only in the records at the FBO, had decided to try for a
10 percent reward from the Florida Department of Revenue for
turning in a visiting out-of-state aircraft owner? I could have
received a surprise bill for six percent of the value of an
aircraft much more expensive than the one I actually own. And I
doubt there would have been any interest from the other end in
"getting things straightened out."
Just a heads-up to FBO linemen in the Sunshine State -- as long
as the Florida Tax Trap remains on the books, my aircraft won't be
on your ramp. One surprise from Florida is enough.
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