A day on the fly with BKD

SBJ Reporter Eric Olson spent April

29 traveling with BKD Managing Partner/pilot Bill Fingland and pilot Gary Wasmer. The trip consisted of three stops in three Indiana cities. Fingland conducted meetings in Evansville, Bloomington and Fort Wayne, Ind.

6:43 a.m. Take off. BKD's Cessna Citation CJ1, piloted by Fingland and Wasmer, is the first plane out of Springfield Downtown Airport. By 7 a.m. the Evansville, Ind.-bound jet climbs to 33,000 feet and a cruising speed of 519 mph aided by a 120-knot (136 mph) tailwind. "If things are moving by quickly that's why," Fingland says. "We'll pay for it heading back," Wasmer adds. Fifteen minutes later, the jet crosses the Mississippi River.

7:37 a.m. Touchdown at Evansville Regional Airport to pick up Neal Spencer, BKD partner in charge of the Bowling Green, Ky., and Evansville and Bloomington, Ind., offices. "I should be accumulating frequent flier miles," is Spencer's greeting as he steps on the plane for his fifth flight in as many weeks.

7:50 a.m. Back in the air, headed to Bloomington for the day's first meeting. Fingland and Spencer will meet with partners of that office to discuss restructuring plans.

8:10 a.m. Arrive at Monroe County Airport in Bloomington. The two partners head to the office for the first of three meetings.

11:24 a.m. Partners return

and board the plane.

11:35 a.m. Take off back to Evansville. In the "jumps" between Bloomington and Evansville, Wasmer says, the plane only reaches 12,000 feet elevation. During the trip to Fort Wayne the plane will cruise at 29,000 feet.

11:55 a.m. Land in Evansville. While partners are at the Evansville office, Wasmer updates the plane's Global Positioning System a procedure done every 28 days and performs a daily systems checklist. The initial checking begins one hour prior to take-off during Wasmer's flight preparations.

2:31 p.m. Fingland returns from meeting and boards plane. Next stop: Fort Wayne.

2:39 p.m. Airborne again for Fort Wayne.

3:25 p.m. Land at Fort Wayne International Airport for final meeting of the day.

6:03 p.m. Return to the skies for Springfield. Traveling at 31,000 feet altitude and battling a 90-knot (102 mph) head wind. The plane reaches a true air speed of 367 knots (414 mph). The cockpit reading says the outside temperature is -37 C (-98.6 F).

7:50 p.m. Safely home. It's just another day at the office for Fingland and Wasmer. The two pilots are "ready to do it all over again tomorrow," Fingland says, with meetings in Cincinnati and St. Louis.