Nigerian Defence

My Nigerian aviation correspondent seems a little wounded that I implied that government bribes might form a line item in his business expenses. He replied:

I didnt ask for for more then the cost of a good plane to start with, and banner cost. and do you know even the US congressmen take gifts to pass bills. and sorry about want happen in neworlean, may God confort the lost souls.

All power to him if he can set up a business without paying any non-scheduled government fees, but I stick by my original statement that local classifieds and contacts remain superior to e-mailing foreigners when it comes to determining the local cost of aircraft and banner tow STCs.

For those who don't know, an STC is a Special Type Certificate constituting official permission to modify an aircraft from the factory design. Other than attaching a banner tow hook, an STC might encompass larger fuel tanks, special wheels, floats, or externally mounted survey equipment. If there is already an STC in effect for your model aircraft, the modification can be done without much paperwork, but if you are the first person to want to modify that model in that way, you're in for a lot of time, paperwork and cash.