Passengers tattle on pilot after ride in stolen jet

Atlanta Journal-Constitution (excerpt) ^ | October 13, 2005

[HAL9000]

Excerpt -

Imagine taking a joyride with five friends — a fine trip, covering 400 or so miles, the sort of nighttime jaunt where the lights of towns and cities below twinkle like diamonds tossed across black velvet.

Then imagine that trip coming to a rude conclusion when your five fellow travelers finger you as the guy who stole that ride, a $7 million Cessna Citation VII.

That's the situation facing Daniel Andrew Wolcott of Buford. Police arrested him Wednesday and charged him with taking the airplane, boosted from St. Augustine, Fla., last weekend and flown to Gwinnett County Airport/Briscoe Field.

Wolcott, 22, is facing five misdemeanor counts and one felony charge in Gwinnett for the alleged theft. He may face more, too: Federal officials and Florida authorities are considering filing charges.

Police said Wolcott has a commercial-rated pilot's license, but is not licensed to fly the Cessna, a sophisticated machine that can climb eight miles into the sky and exceed 500 mph.

Wolcott, said police spokesman Darren Moloney, "apparently is a talented and gifted pilot."

[snip]

[B4Ranch]

You need to reply to REPANDPROUDOFIT. I was only answering your question.

[jwpjr]

Ah yes! What I wouldn't give to have that airplane today! Just a real joy to fly. Had the fuel tank in front of the cockpit windshield and a little thingie-do that floated on the surface of the fuel an stuck up through the cap to show you how much fuel was in the tank. A tach, a Hobbs, oil pressure and temp, airspeed and the little ball in the curved tube for turn and bank. As simple an aircraft as you could imagine.

I think it burned about 3 gallons an hour and if I am not mistaken the aero club that owned it charged $6.00 an hour, wet, to rent it.

Really miss those days of flying!

[Fester Chugabrew]

I lived in Enterprise, AL, in 1965 and worked for the radio station there, WIRB.

This piece may be of interest to you.

[monday]

"I was only answering your question."

How can you be sure thats what he meant?

[B4Ranch]

Not being a Bush Bot, I am not that sure of anything.

[BigSkyFreeper]

The young man may well not have been type rated, that does not preclude him from not having logged time in that type aircraft. When times were less strict, a friend of mine flew for thirty years and never had a license.

Friend of mine used to fly one of those small one seat planes (they typically are used for crop dusting), and he would take off early in the morning on Saturday's and fly to the neighboring town about 78 miles away and have coffee with the "morning coffee bunch" on Saturday mornings. Most of them were Ham Radio operators like him, and they knew each other really well.

He doesn't do that anymore ever since his hip started bothering him, as he can't operate the rudder pedals very well.

[painter]

Years ago we had an airshow here in Central Missouri and someone showed up in one. I fell in loved with it. It is one of those airplanes you would love to have to take off in and get up high and enjoy being up there..:)

Is your ticket up to date?

[paul51]

Wolcott, said police spokesman Darren Moloney, "apparently is a talented and gifted pilot."

Maybe, however he can kiss any license he has and future as a jet pilot good bye. If he's lucky, he may get to fly a crop duster some day

[jwpjr]

re: Is your ticket up to date?

Sort of. I am coming up on my 3rd class medical and I need a flight review. I am in Tampa, FL and it's pretty expensive to rent here.

I would LOVE to have a Champ. Keep it on a grass strip someplace and be able to go out and hop in and take off when the mood strikes. By the time I get to an airport here, get the preflight done, get in the air and back down I've spent a hundred dollars or so. And it's not that much fun flying in a area where you have FIVE controlled and a dozen uncontrolled airports in an area 25 miles across.

I remember learning to fly in St. Elmo, AL. It was a small grass strip and on the weekend there would be a dozen or more pilots out there just hanging around. You could always get a ride and most of them would give you some stick time if they knew you. We used to take the Champ up to about 3500 feet and throw a role of toilet paper out the window and then see how many time we could cut it with the prop before it got too near the ground. Or put balloon out at 3000 feet and then try to come back and break it with the prop. Sounds easy enough, but it takes some practice.

OK, back to the present now. Still waiting to hear more about the guy and the Citation. I just can't believe someone who has never operated one could get the engines going and get it in the air, not to mention landing it.

[jwpjr]

Wow! Quite an article. I was in Enterprise for about a year, but had no contact with anything like this.

[leadpenny]

I had not heard that story about Kristofferson. Thanks.

[leadpenny]

Good point. Unless the company requires it, a co-pilot usually doesn't need an ATP or a type rating.

[REPANDPROUDOFIT]

"Surely he will be put UNDER the jail for this one." In the basement? What the hell does UNDER the jail mean?

I have heard this expression all of my life. It is used to describe what will happen to someone in the most serious offenses, like passing a stopped school bus. They not only put you in the jail, they put you under it. Sorry, just assumed it was universal.

[leadpenny]

Good ole Enterprise, Alabama. Home of Sessions Peanuts and a statue of the Boll Weevil.. Wasn't that station called the "Wiregrass" station or something like that? Along with honoring the Boll Weevil, Enterprise put up a statue of an Army Aviator.

I just missed you. I was there (Rucker) Apr-Aug 66 and then again in 68 through 69. During those years the Aviation Advisory circular for the area advised there could be 600 aircraft in the air, on average, on a VFR day. I taught R/W instruments and my sectors were out of Hanchey Heliport to the NE towards Eufala.

[leadpenny]

"just assumed it was universal."

Me too.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

I thank god every day that the Army had a hold of my britches when I was that age.

Some of the czaziest things I did was in the Army. I was a MP to boot.

[leadpenny]

The only time I had a real run-in with any of your buddies was in Vung Tau, Nam, and there again someone was looking out for me. On my second tour I had gone down there for a five day 0H-58 transition course. A classmate and I were in a bar after curfew. The two MPs who grabbed us took us to the MP station in the back of a 3/4 ton truck. They must have told the desk sergeant that we had not given them a hard time and they just drove us back to our quarters. Thought sure we were going under the jail that night.

[jwpjr]

Yup! The company that owned WIRB was Wiregrass Broadcasting. The manager was R. E. James, his brother was mayor of Montgomery.

As I look back over my life, Enterprise is one of the places where I would like to live again. I liked it there. Bought all my tires at Easy Pay Tire Co.

Thanks for the memories.

[SeeRushToldU_So]

A lot of my problems, or close to problems were around motorcycles,wine and the Post Commander's(2 Star)18 yr old daughter.

By the way we are all still friends to this day. So I might have had someone looking out for me. All this was between 76-78.

[leadpenny]

Had I not lived it, out of the BOQ, during the Vietnam "Boom" years when we were pumping out 6-8 thousand pilots a year, I wouldn't believe it. The officer students were on flight and TDY pay and the booze flowed like water. Weekly Bingo prizes at the O-Club were cars, and monthly prizes were airplanes and Winnebagos.

Question for ya. My favorite US Senator is Jeff Sessions, do you know if he is connected to the Sessions Peanut business?