High flier: Tom Jacobson poured a pile of money into flight training just before the terrorist attacks - but his business stayed afloat by sticking to its plan. (Small Business).

ONE of the biggest lessons student pilots must master is good timing on takeoffs and landings.

But when Tom's Aircraft Maintenance Inc. decided to open a flight school to complement its aircraft sales and repair business, the timing couldn't have been worse.

Owner Tom Jacobson had invested $350,000 for two training planes prior to the Sept. 15, 2001 opening, called Flight Pros, and committed to $1,200 in monthly insurance and $900 a week for a school manager.

With the terrorist attacks, it would be nearly two months before Flight Pros got its first customer. But other parts of the Long Beach business have managed to feed off each other, and less than two years later, Jacobson says he is busy.

"Our business has been able to take on adversity in a positive way," he said.

Flight Pros now has six planes, enough to train 10 to 15 students paying $114 per hour at a given time. A Federal Aviation Administration license requires 40 hours of instructor-guided and solo flying.

The income from the school is nice, but Jacobson's aim is to get students so enamored with flying that they eventually purchase one of the Cessna four- or six-seat, single-engine planes on display at Long Beach Airport.

To further that goal, Flight Pros instructors give lessons in 2001 Cessna models, equipped with the latest global positioning satellite and autopilot technology. Students also have access to the Cessna Pilot Center, which offers computerized instruction from an interactive compact disc that students can take home.

Cessna sales

For the past two years, Tom's Aircraft has sold 78 of the piston-powered planes and is the largest Cessna dealer for such aircraft. (It sold two in 1998, the first year as a dealer.)

Commissions run 7 to 10 percent on planes that range in price from $155,000 for a 172R Skyhawk to $470,000 for a Turbo 206, which travels 160 miles per hour at 20,000 feet for up to 1,000 miles.

"People come in, learn to fly and decide they want their own plane," said Jacobson. "And they want it when they want it. If you try to rent an airplane, it may be rented that day. (Owning) really gives you a lot of freedom."

About two-thirds of Tom's Aircraft customers buy planes simply for pleasure, while 20 percent each fly for business and personal travel reasons.

The prototype Cessna buyer is 40 to 55 years old with an average annual income of $500,000 per year and relatively new to flying. Jacobson targets the market by spending $60,000 to $70,000 a year on newspaper and trade magazine ads, open houses a this hangars and demonstrations at air shows.

"It's a combination of their very good reputation within the aviation community and they aggressively pursue that market," said Chuck Bates, regional sales manager for Cessna Aircraft Inc.

Tom's Aircraft had been selling Cessna parts since 1988 as part of a maintenance operation that generates about $4 million annually. (The company also maintains other general aviation planes.)

The opportunity to sell planes came shortly after Cessna restarted its production line of piston-engine propeller planes, which had been halted during a product liability crisis in the mid-1980s. Product liability reform is carried out by Congress in 1994 gave a boost to the industry.

Insurance premiums, which for Jacobson hover around $220,000 a year, remain an issue in general aviation. The same insurance companies underwrite policies to commercial airlines and the aerospace industry.

"If you have one or two major airline crashes or the loss of a satellite, some of that boils down into the general aviation industry," said Drew Steketee, president and chief executive of Be A Pilot, an industry-funded program that promotes flying. "They have to make up for their losses so our premiums go up."

Jacobson was introduced to the general aviation in 1976 when his cousin, an employee at Riley Aircraft Corp. in Carlsbad, persuaded him to quit his job as a mess hail cook at a Colorado Air Force base and move west. After several years at Riley, Jacobson was on the maintenance crew at Long Beach-based Steward Davis Inc., before he decided to go Out on his own.

Jacobson hasn't flown solo since he founded the company as a maintenance operation in 1983, investing $400 a month to rent a corner of a hangar at the airport. As business grew, he had little free time and nowhere he wanted to go in a hurry. With all his business operations stabilized, he wants to resume flying.

"I own 15 planes but I'm not a pilot," he said.

RELATED ARTICLE: PROFILE

Tom's Aircraft Maintenance Inc.

Year Founded: 1983

Core Business: Selling and maintaining small aircraft

Revenues in 2001: $4.5 million

Revenues in 2902: $5.5 million

Employees in 2001: 20

Employees in 2002: 23

Goal: To maintain status as world's largest new piston engine Cessna sales dealer.

Driving Force: Customers who want their own planes to avoid security hassles at airports.