The journal

What we learned running the airplane.

Notes from operating a dry-leased aircraft and building the software around it. The paperwork, the insurance, the things we had to undo. Written from our own file, not from a marketing calendar.

Insurance

September 19, 2026 · 6 min read

What a renter is actually on the hook for

Most renters believe their exposure on a rented airplane is the owner’s deductible. It is not. It is what the airplane is insured for. Here are the three clauses that make it so, and the one protection almost nobody asks about.

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A single-engine airplane inside a hangar at dawn, seen from the back of the hangar toward the open door

Tax

August 19, 2026 · 7 min read

The California aircraft tax that follows your hangar

Buy an airplane and bring it into California and you owe use tax — even from a private party, even with no dealer involved. The rate is not set by where you bought it or where you live. It is set by where you keep it, and there is one election with a deadline that most owners find out about far too late.

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