Stolen military aircraft

[WS-G]

With reference to Foote...

There is no truth whatsoever in the story about him gaining entry to the Israeli Air Force. Foote's not even Jewish, therefore is ineligible for aliyah (immigration under Right of Return).

His claim in a 14 February 1988 Los Angeles Times article of working as a pilot for an on-demand carrier was bogus as well. He may have scammed his way into a commuter in some other postion, but it would not have been as a pilot. How do I know this? Check the FAA Airman Registry. The only Howard A. Foote listed (California address, by the way) is listed as holding only a Private Pilot Certificate with a Glider category rating, and a Third-Class Medical Certificate, both current as of 2010. Looks like his aviation career hasn't worked out so very well at all in the intervening three decades.

Foote holds no other category or class ratings on his pilot certificate, no type ratings, no flight or ground instructor certificate, and no mechanic certificate (his USMC time would have made him eligible under the experience requirement). Yet on Page 8 of this document http://www.frantechusa.com/img/SPRBusPlan071017.pdf he claims significant multiengine, fast-jet and rotary-wing pilot experience. This is not consistent with his FAA record. If you have a careful look over the so-called business plan (dated 17 October 2007), he's a supposed key player in a scheme to develop what amounts to a space-themed amusement park, to be located in the Shanghai area. There's no available documentation to show that this project has ever actually gotten anywhere.

Also, documentation supporting his claimed JPL and other alleged NASA-connected projects is conspicuous by its absence: there's the occasional reference in the popular press (usually the LA Times, whose quality is little more than tabloid-level), but a serious paucity of scientific and technical reports. It's possible he may have had some very minimal, very peripheral involvement in some small project or another, but not a single article can be turned up bearing Foote's name as a named author. If he truly were a principal researcher on any project, this would not be the case; he would be a named author (he isn't).

His claim to have attended Embry-Riddle may be valid, however the question still remains: did he actually graduate? If so, with what degree and in which major subject(s)? I'm certain there's no shortage of PPRuNers with ERAU connections who could quickly and easily verify that claim for its truthfulness -- or the lack thereof.

My take on Foote? His biographic profile seems to shout "spoiled rich brat wasting his parents' money who refuses to take responsibility for his own recklessness". He's spent the past near-30 years of his life as a second-rate scam artist and con man, and after all these years, still refuses to grow up. Do a search for other LA Times citations concerning Foote. I'd say the United States Marine Corps got Foote's number back in 1986 when they essentially told him to have a long walk off a short pier.

I see a Darwin in Foote's remaining future. He earned it 30 years ago, the committee simply hasn't presented it to him yet.