# Airplane repo show **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487 "2014-09-14T17:45:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/1 "2014-09-14T17:45:04Z")
Huh. Saw this last night. It was entertaining (I guess that answers a lot). But really, people sneak into airports and steal Lear Jets because the ‘owner’ is behind on payments? Also they seemed to being doing it without proper ATC and VERY minimal flight prep. Also ‘stealing’ float planes and helo’s and a Stearman. What? Umm… This can’t be a real thing, can it? How about getting the cops involved and showing the needed paper work? I know it was a TV show, but is this done? ---
**Author:** ![dba\_Fred](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c37758/32.png) [@dba\_Fred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dba_Fred)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/2 "2014-09-14T18:09:08Z")
_In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem… if no one else can help… and if you can find them… maybe you can hire…_ **The Airplane Repo Team**. Their Motto: _We don’t need no stinkin’ paperwork!_ (but we do need a camera crew and the ability to talk in hushed tones) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/3 "2014-09-14T18:34:58Z")
> [@dba\_Fred](#): > > _In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem… if no one else can help… and if you can find them… maybe you can hire…_ **The Airplane Repo Team**. > Their Motto: _We don’t need no stinkin’ paperwork!_ (but we do need a camera crew and the ability to talk in hushed tones) Umm. What? Is that some sort of comment from a TV show? My question was serious. They really don’t repo airplanes this way, do they? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/4 "2014-09-14T18:40:10Z")
You [youngins](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MVonyVSQoM). ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/5 "2014-09-15T07:48:16Z")
The show is faked. If you pay attention, you’ll notice multiple camera angles including shots from cameras fixed on the wing, etc. of these planes they are supposedly sneaking around and trying to fly away without getting caught. I happened to catch part of one episode and immediately noticed the multiple camera angles. There’s plenty of discussion about how the show is staged. An example: [http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62477](http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62477) > [@](#): > > It is more fake than Flying Wild Alaska, Amish Mafia and Devils Ride. There is literally no realism to this series what so ever. Aircraft repos take days/weeks to complete, there are ferry permits to obtain, and rest assure that nobody is busting in hangars to steal aircraft because the last time I checked, that is against the law. > > Edit - all the emergency situations are made up as well, actually one was self inflicted (Citation Mustang pressurization issue). > > I love watching the show for laughs but it is about on par with the garbage that Discovery puts out these days. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/6 "2014-09-15T09:20:27Z")
> [@dba\_Fred](#): > > _In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem… if no one else can help… and if you can find them… maybe you can hire…_ **The Airplane Repo Team**. > Their Motto: _We don’t need no stinkin’ paperwork!_ (but we do need a camera crew and the ability to talk in hushed tones) I ain’t gettin’ in that plane with that fool Murdock, Hannibal. He’s crazy! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/7 "2014-09-15T16:11:33Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > The show is faked. If you pay attention, you’ll notice multiple camera angles including shots from cameras fixed on the wing, etc. of these planes they are supposedly sneaking around and trying to fly away without getting caught. Like most reality shows, it’s “real” in quotation marks. The guys involved really do repossess airplanes (you can look up their companies) and they are doing real jobs on the show. But once they’re in possession of the plane the crew will happily hold things up to slap some GoPros on the wheel well or re-shoot the guys entering the hangar or something. And of course there’s a great deal of selective editing to make the jobs more dramatic than they are. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/8 "2014-09-15T16:16:10Z")
The closing credits for the new season admit they use “selective dramatization” - which in reality means the whole thing is faked. Season 1, showing Sage-Popovich’s operations, did seem realistic, but nothing since, and they barely even try. The guys on the show are real repo guys, you can Google them all, but on the show they’re acting. There’s some cheesecake now, though - the “airport manager” who “took out a restraining order” on Kevin last year is suddenly his _partner_. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/airplane-repo-show/698487/9 "2014-09-16T00:35:12Z")
I watched a couple shows as part of a marathon and couldn’t believe it was real so I googled and found out that it’s ridiculously fake. I think we even had a thread here about a year ago. I watched one episode where the repo guy applied for a job with the guy he was taking the plane from. They made a big deal about how cameras couldn’t come in with him, then showed a shot from inside the office as he was doing the interview. Duh. He enlisted a helper for that job. I read later that the hanger and plane actually belonged to his helper friend.