Barefoot Bandit wants money for flying lessons...

Cajun_Flyer said:
Interesting how the amount he apparently still owes his victims in restitution is only $4K off from how much he is claiming he needs to become a pilot... :rolleyes:
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But if he becomes a pilot he will have income they can attach. Why is that bad for the victim?

If the kid is deprived of opportunity to gain skills leading to a well paying job, how can he can ever complete restitution?

Yes - I'm being a bit sarcastic on this whole topic, but the kid fowled up, it will get resolved, and in the end...

I'd rather have my plane stolen by a licensed pilot. What I get back will be in better shape.
 
Everskyward said:
The $135,000 is to get all the way through fixed wing commercial/instrument and CFI, and helicopter commercial/instrument. Then he wants to fly medevac. But he'll be asking for more money soon because no operator is going to let him do that with only a fresh commercial/instrument. I believe in second chances, but this guy seems to be a money and attention seeker, who doesn't exactly express much contrition.
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First off his numbers are even high for that.

Second, no medevac company on earth, or at least in the US, is going to hire a ex con.
 
Stingray Don said:
Wanting others to pony up $125,000 to pay for his flight training? Sounds like he has found a new scam. I can't believe anyone would give him a dime.
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Oh, there are plenty. During his crime spree, many folks here (WA, where he's from) were going on and on about how it was a waste to imprison him, since he was obviously a genius to be able to "teach himself to fly a plane from a book"...besides, to those folks, all the airplane owners were "rich men" who could afford to replace their "toys." Never underestimate the ability of bleeding heart non-achievers to ring the idiot bell.
 
Looks like his con job got shut down.

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Ravioli said:
But if he becomes a pilot he will have income they can attach. Why is that bad for the victim?

If the kid is deprived of opportunity to gain skills leading to a well paying job, how can he can ever complete restitution?

Yes - I'm being a bit sarcastic on this whole topic, but the kid fowled up, it will get resolved, and in the end...

I'd rather have my plane stolen by a licensed pilot. What I get back will be in better shape.
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What opportunity is he being deprived of? The opportunity to con sympathizers out of $125K, which is WAY more than becoming a pilot actually costs and is obviously a ploy to get the $129K he needs to pay back his victims? And since when is being a pilot a "well paying job"? I mean, after years of experience, maybe - if you play your cards right and have the right gig at the right airline. But there are plenty of other well paying jobs out there. He's more than free to put his big kid pants on, roll up his sleeves and start gaining the skills towards those.

So again, I don't see how he is being deprived of something. At one point in his life, he could partially blame his behavior on a bad childhood. But, at this point, he isn't a victim of anyone but himself.

I have nothing against him becoming a pilot. If he came out of prison actually reformed, and that's what he wanted to do - good on him. But there are far cheaper ways to do it than learning in a Cirrus at one of the most expensive places out there, and why not earn that certification through hard work, instead of free handouts?

Again, though, I don't believe for a second he had any intention of using that money for a pilot certification. I think he knew the number he needed to reach to repay his victims - $129K - and purposefully found the most expensive route to starting this "career" that would meet that expense total.

He's not reformed. He's a conman.
 
Most of these go fund me campaigns are simply someone trying to use sympathy or other emotions to con others out of their money. But if fools and their money are intent on parting ways, it will happen one way or another. As for my hard earned money, it goes to benefit my family and me and very few others. The few others are normally well known to me and well deserving.
 
Ravioli said:
But if he becomes a pilot he will have income they can attach. Why is that bad for the victim?

If the kid is deprived of opportunity to gain skills leading to a well paying job, how can he can ever complete restitution?

Yes - I'm being a bit sarcastic on this whole topic, but the kid fowled up, it will get resolved, and in the end...

I'd rather have my plane stolen by a licensed pilot. What I get back will be in better shape.
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I wonder if he realizes how little a Part 135 pilot takes home? It's unlikely that a Part 121 carrier would hire him, but I also wonder if he is aware of the costs of getting an ATP.

Bob
 
Zeldman said:
Are you positive about that.?
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About 95%

Especially the big boys, explain that to the stock holders when, not if, he does something stupid, or when the press grabs hold of that headline, enough bad press in the industry without inviting more, no Bueno.
 
How will he do his logbook?

Besides the usual columns for "cross-country" and "PIC", will he also have columns for "stolen" and "not stolen"?
 
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