Moss Aviation Service and Hire (MASH) has acquired a Bell 206 JetRanger, which will be operated for private use and for ad hoc charter, by Liverpool’s Helicentre.

Director Jonathan Moss, who holds an ATPL for fixed-wing aircraft, believes that flying jets has lost its appeal and wanted to rekindle his passion for aviation with the purchase of the JetRanger.

“I was previously operating a CitationJet as a freelance pilot and I recently switched over to rotary,” he said. “I got a little bit bored with flying the Citation, which seems a little strange as you work you way up from the bottom and aspire to fly jets.

“It was great fun for a few years and I flew some very interesting people, including entrepreneur Richard Branson and golfer Lee Westwood, but after a while you realise you’re not really flying – you take off and, after a very short period, you put the aircraft in autopilot across a planned route, and you’re told when to come down.

“I enjoyed taking off but when you hit the cruise at about 35,000 to 40,000 feet and sit there for an hour, you feel a bit like a glorified taxi driver,” he added. “I realised there should be more excitement involved in flying, so I made the switch to rotary to get some more joy out of flying. With helicopters, it’s purely hands-on.”

Moss bought the JetRanger for personal use and has put it onto Helicentre’s AOC, which will operate the aircraft for ad hoc charter, training and self-fly hire flights, and anticipates that he will log about 100 hours per year, topped up by an additional 200 hours through Helicentre, which also has access to two other JetRangers and a Single Squirrel at Liverpool.

Moss had considered acquiring a Single Squirrel (on which he initially obtained his type-rating) with another investor, but eventually purchased the Bell 206 himself. “The JetRanger is a bit cheaper to buy and operate, so it made more sense,” he said.

With five family members, the five-seat aircraft fitted Moss’ needs perfectly. “If I only had four family members, I might have considered the Robinson 44.

“I’ve also heard that the French are very difficult to deal with getting parts, whereas Bell are much easier to deal with and there are lots of people who offer maintenance.

“The aircraft is a 1975 model and has been meticulously maintained by its previous owner who had it for 15 years. It’s done about 4,900 hours and the main component times still have about 4,600 hours to go,” he said. “It’s the original interior, but it has been very well maintained and has no rips or tears.”

The only modification planned is to fit a Garmin 430, which will offer VOR and GPS capability. “It’s a good piece of kit and is reasonably cheap

to install.”

Moss Aviation also brokers aircraft and is currently looking for a Piper Meridian on behalf of a client. If it acquires the aircraft, the company will place it on the charter market.