Business Flying
in Europe,
1970 Style

      2
At that time, the Piper Seneca II belonged to an architect of our home town, who was undergoing financial breakdown. Fearing that the twin would be seized by the authorities, Chris flew it to Brussels and put it under the watchful eye of a businessman friend, who operated a bizjet there. The price for N-1544X kept plummeting.

On 1. March 1976 I began the theoretical and practical upgrading to multiengine aircraft and a day later purchased N1544-X.At its final configuration, the Piper Seneca II N1544X has 7 seats, 2 baggage compartments, retractible gear, full "blind-flying" instrumentation, anti- and de-icing installations, 3-color weather radar, an autopilot coupled to the navigation system and an on-board computer, capable of pre-programming and storing 10 flights on the published airways. It is powered by two Continental turbocharged 6-cylinder injection engines, giving it an airspeed of 170 nm (300 km) per hour at a service ceiling of 25 000 ft (8 km).

American-registered aircraft need maintenance and regular checks complying with FAA regulations. Their pilots, ground technicians and inspectors, are required to be licensed by the American aviation authorities.
All of this costs less than for a corresponding Swiss-licensed aircraft. Still, the US requirements are no less strict. However, at the time pilots were required to go to the US Air Force base in Frankfurt, Germany for their regular IFR proficieny tests. Inspectors had to be flown in to perform the annual airworthiness check.

One month later, after passing my seventh bi-annual instruments check, I received my multi-engine aircraft rating and started using N1544X for business trips.

At that time business aviation was almost unknown in Switzerland.
Working as the marketing manager for a small joint venture, belonging to a multinational Swiss pharmaceutical company and a Finnish sugar firm, enabled me to operate the twin and afford its maintenance.
There was no regional airline then either. Many of my customers and affiliates could only be reached by taking the airlines, commuting first to Zurich, then flying to the nearest airport serviced by the airlines.
That I could now fly directly to the local airport gave me an edge on the competition. Although the lines were about three times as fast in the air, more time was lost in connections and delays than the difference in speed between a jet and my 300 km/hr twin could make good.

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