Jimmy's airplanes are registered with the FAA under the name Strange Bird, Inc. out of Wilmington, Delaware.
Jimmy Buffett has been flying for over twenty years now. His love of flying first blossomed when he was in college. A friend of his at the University of Southern Mississippi was a pilot and introduced him to flying. Jimmy had a flight lesson here or there but it didn't amount to much in the early days. Money was tight and flying is certainly not cheap. As a notable sign found in airports says, "If God had intended man to fly, he would've given him more money."
However, that flying bug stayed with Jimmy. He set the goal of having his license by his 40th birthday. So as more success brought more money, Jimmy was able to resume his flying dream.He purchased a Lake Renegade amphibian and was instructed to his private pilot certification with single engine land and sea ratings just a year shy of his 40th birthday.
Jimmy now owns several planes including the Hemisphere Dancer, a restored Grumman Albatross, which was sometimes flown over concert venues. However, the Albatross was recently retired and put on display at Margaritaville in Orlando.
There have also been a few close calls in Jimmy's flying career. In 1994, Jimmy was performing a water takeoff in his Grumman Widgeon when he encountered a swell in Nantucket and was unable to maintain control. The aircraft nosed over and sank. Read the accident report. Thanks to Naval survival training (required for a flight in an F-14 that Jimmy took), Jimmy swam out relatively uninjured. In 1996, shortly after landing the Hemisphere Dancer on the water outside of Negril, Jamaican authorities shot at the airplane mistaking it for a drugrunning seaplane. This incident inspired Jimmy to write the
song Jamaica Mistaica.
As many owners do, Jimmy has progressively moved up in airplanes as he has gained more hours (and more money). In the past he has owned a Lake Renegade amphibian (pictured right), a Cessna Citation business jet, a Falcon 50 (pictured left), and a Grumman Widgeon.
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He purchased a Lake Renegade amphibian and was instructed to his private pilot certification with single engine land and sea ratings just a year shy of his 40th birthday. 
