Our Philosophy.

Pilots have a unique position in our society. Whereas more and more individuals in our country seem to abdicate their responsibilities (raising children, voting, patronizing local business, paying taxes, getting involved in their local community), most pilots have accepted as a sine qua non condition of the privilege of flight that they are the only ones responsible for their own safety and the safety of their passengers as well as the folks on the ground.

At Venturay, we endeavor to offer the most reliable equipment possible for a targeted price range. However, we do demand one thing of our customers: fly safely. This means:

- Always conduct a thorough pre-flight regardless of the length of your flight.

- Always ensure that you and your passengers can land safely in the event of any in-flight emergency -- be it instrument failure, engine failure, or meteorological conditions. For example, when we fly over water in a single-engine aircraft, we ALWAYS climb to an altitude that will allow us to glide back to shore -- no ditching!

- If something "feels" wrong or "sounds" wrong in your aircraft, do not takeoff! If you are already in flight, make a precautionary landing to investigate the cause.

Too many of our friends have lost their lives because they thought they could stretch the in-flight fuel consumption or because they "had to get there." Please fly responsibly. Every time a pilot takes flight, he/she is responsible not only for the safety of their aircraft and passengers but of the entire GA community. Every headline that recounts the death of an innocent bystander from an aviation incident, every airspace incursion that is reported in the media, and every FAA accident report that tells of pilot error adds to the burden of every one of your fellow pilots.

After the incident, there is a tremendous cultural tendency to find someone to sue rather than accept that the individual may have been doing what she/he actually enjoyed! Crossing the street is dangerous. Driving a car is dangerous. Life is dangerous! But for those of us with the courage to face these "dangers" there are manifold rewards.

Over the years we have lost a few friends. Yet, we recognize and accept that each individual is responsible for his/her own fate. Would we forsake flying for the "safety" of ground-bound? No. Neither, we suspect, would you.

One of the (many) beauties of flight, in our experience, is that it is the pilot-in-command who is the final and absolute arbiter. And we would have it no other way.

We accept that flying can be dangerous - just as driving, crossing the street, or even eating food! Yet those are the very activities that make live worth living. Pity the ones who have never experienced the pleasure of flight. Pity the ones who have never experienced the exultation of being free and totally responsible for one's own fate.

We encourage all our friends and customers to practice new skills as well as old proficiencies, plan for the unexpected, live life to their own personal limits, but above all, we urge everyone to accept their responsibilities.

Inexperienced pilots can build their time conservatively, experienced pilots can resolve to not become complacent.

At all times, a pilot should be able to land safely in the event of engine failure. In our humble opinion, if you cannot accomplish this safely, you need to review your flying habits. Is it really worth saving a few dollars in gas and flying at 1000 feet AGL rather than an altitude that can provide you with more margin in the event of engine failure? Out of personal experience, we know that engine failure at 1000 feet does not leave much room for error. Time for 7700 and one call on 121.5 and then you concentrate on nothing but the little opening in the woods.

We have one pilot friend who experienced everything from a canopy failure that knocked him unconscious to a broken crankshaft resulting in the propeller flying ahead of the airplane and who, through it all, maintained that ultimate pilot's coolness - yes, we dare to call it coolness - and landed safely. He is truly worthy of being called a pilot.

Our final word is this:

Fly safely.

Fly responsibly.