N448PC sat beside the main entrance to Cleveland Hopkins Airport for over two years. Photo: OPShots.net
Or at least he thinks it’s his. Former New York Mets and Phillies player turned car-wash mogul and homeless man living in his car, Lenny Dykstra has had his share of ups and downs lately, none of which occurred in the Gulfstream II jet he still believes he owns. On December 13, 2010, Dykstra filed papers in the US Bankruptcy Court in California demanding that the aircraft be returned and also wants an $800,000 payment for his trouble. He is suing his creditors; Constant Aviation, Classic Interiors and Crystal Air Aviation, for allegedly violating a court order and taking possession of the Gulfstream II business jet on February 12, 2009.
The aircraft in question, a Grumman Gulfstream II (G-1159) was purchased for a reported $3 million by Dykstra in 2007 and registered as N448PC, the “PC” purportedly standing for his short-lived “Players Club” venture, a magazine and jet charter service geared towards professional athletes. The repossessed plane had been sitting in storage outside the Constant Aviation hangar at the main entrance to Cleveland Hopkins Airport ever since. At the time, it was reported that the plane was taken into possession after failure to make good on a $228,000 payment for a state of the art entertainment system for the aircraft.
Since then, Dykstra has also been reported to owe $962,000 to various business jet operators in New York, Cleveland and California, as well as a slew of other debts totaling in the millions to various financial institutions.
The aircraft, built in 1978, was issued a new certificate of ownership on March 1, 2011 to US Acquisition Property X LLC, of Aurora, Colorado, and on March 31st left Cleveland for the first time in over two years. Flying with its gear down and a maximum altitude of only 17,000 feet, it was ferried to Boca Raton, Florida (KBCT), with an overnight stop in Aiken, South Carolina (KAIK).
https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N448PC
What the future holds for Lenny, or the aircraft for that matter, one can only speculate. With some TLC, the Gulfstream may be able to fly again, as for Lenny…TMZ Sports quotes the president of Constant Aviation as saying: “It’s not [Lenny’s] airplane, I don’t know if he is confused. Our dealings with him are over and we are moving past the Lenny Dykstra saga, as I think everyone should.”
– Chuck Slusarczyk Jr. – OPShots.net
