Standing in a tight circle in front of the press headquarters tent at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the cast of Discovery Channel’s Airplane Repo looked like they could be casing the joint for an escape route in case they needed to repossess an airplane or two. But the group wasn’t about to spend the week stealing airplanes – they were at Oshkosh to have fun and to meet their fans. Earlier in the week repo man Ken Cage had reassured everyone of this by tweeting about his Oshkosh intentions:
And that’s not the only thing they’ve been tweeting about. Cage and the rest of the group have been very active on social media lately, using Twitter and Facebook to try to gain fan momentum for season two of Airplane Repo, which until July 25th had an uncertain future. After a short (failed?) three-episode run in 2010 with repo man Nick Popovich, who’s no longer on the show, Airplane Repo returned last year, drawing quick criticism from the audience for possibly being staged. But for every skeptic the show may have, it has a few more fans, and Discovery announced on July 25 that season two would premiere on August 22 at 10 pm EST.
While aircraft owners at Oshkosh may have been intentionally avoiding eye contact with Airplane Repo guys Kevin Lacey, Ken Cage, Danny Thompson and Mike Kennedy, NYCAviation tracked them down to get the scoop about the show’s upcoming season. What we discovered was a group of guys – and a gal – who might be all-business on camera, but are just aviation enthusiasts like the rest of us off camera.
Interview with the Stars of TV’s “Airplane Repo!” from Capnaux on Vimeo.
Airplane Repo takes viewers into the lives of aircraft repo experts as they repossess high-dollar aircraft from the rich and famous. The cast of season two includes the dynamic duo of Ken Cage and Danny Thompson, two experienced experts with over 1,500 repos to date, and daredevil Mike Kennedy, who is known for pushing his aircraft – and luck – to the limit. Cowboy Kevin Lacey is also back this season, and he’s recruited female apprentice and stunt pilot Heather Sterzick to help him out.
While critics say Airplane Repo is overly dramatized, the cast assures us that what you see is real – and perfectly legal. Breaking into airports and stealing aircraft is what these guys do, if that’s what’s required of them to get the plane back where it belongs – usually, the bank.
Sarah Morgan, a Discovery Channel spokesperson, confirms the cast’s explanation. “Given the fast-paced and dangerous nature of this line of work, often our repo men (and now, women!) find themselves in tough situations. In order to protect them and debtors/property, key identifying information has been changed and select dramatizations employed.”
“I’ll get an assignment from a bank or from an attorney, saying that someone is past due on their payments,” Cage, president and co-owner of International Recovery Group, said about the repossession process. “Then we start the investigation process. Once we think we know where it is, we start heading out to the field with a pilot. Sometimes we just walk through the door, and sometimes we have to use more creative methods.”
About eighty-five percent of airplane repos are drama-free, according to Kevin Lacey. The others? Well, that’s where the show comes in. “The others are playing cops and robbers, hide and seek, with you. Sneaking in to grab the airplane is a method we’ve had to come up with because [the owner] can run straight down the street to the courthouse if they see you coming and they’ll file bankruptcy, and then they’ll get a restraining order…and you’re dead in the water,” Lacey said. “So we track it down and we swipe it.” And when the aircraft owner does know they’re coming, sometimes they’ll take it upon themselves to destroy the airplane or the logbooks. “I’ve had engines disappear, [and] I’ve had pilots try to hold records ransom.”
As to the legalities of it all, Lacey says that different states have different rules, but that yes – the recovery strategies used are perfectly legal. “There are some tactics that you have to come up with; sometimes, I wait until [an aircraft] leaves the state and then I chase it,” said Lacey.
When asked whether the show was staged or not, Lacey didn’t hesitate, “Listen, I really do swipe airplanes for a living. But the most rewarding part of it all is the fact that I’ve, for some reason, become a role model for kids. They come out of the woodwork to ask me questions.”
“Airplane Repo’s first season averaged over 1 million viewers per episode, and was a top-ten cable program among men,” said Morgan.
Lacey says that kids and parents are often intimidated by airports these days, and he likes helping them get through to the other side of the fence. “Looking back, where we used to ride our bicycles inside the airport, nowadays [kids] are greeted with no trespassing signs. The most rewarding part is being able to help those youngsters find their way into the airport and into flying lessons.”
At the end of the day, Lacey says, they’re just aviators like the rest of us. In his off time, he’s built an RV-7, owns a Taylorcraft and flew to Oshkosh in a Piper Twin Comanche. Sterzick, a stunt pilot, started flying as a kid, made her way through the military and works as an airport manager. She was recently named President of the Oklahoma chapter of the Ninety-Nines, an organization of women pilots.
And as for Mike Kennedy, well, he’s flown a lot of airplanes, most just once or twice while repossessing them. “I kind of lost track years ago, but I’ve got a lot of hours and most of it’s an hour here or an hour there. You don’t know how many times I’ve shown up to take an airplane and I don’t even know how to open the door. “
An ATP with multiple jet type ratings, Kennedy is known for being the daredevil of the group. He once spent five days in a Mexican prison after stealing a Piper Malibu from the Honduran Air Force, only to have the electrical system fail at night over the ocean. “I landed in Cozumel without talking to anybody because I had no radios…I didn’t even know if I could get the wheels down when I got there. I ended up in a Mexican jail for five days. The American Consulate had to help me get out,” Kennedy said.
And he’s not the only one who has had run-ins with the law. “They have custom fit bracelets for me over at the cop shop,” Lacey said.
See the excitement for yourself when season two premieres on Friday, August 22 at 10 pm EST. Let us know in the comments what you think!
Sarina Houston is NYC Aviation’s assignment editor, and also writes extensively about aviation for About.com. Contact her on Twitter.