The spec sheet is the cheapest competitive advantage available to a small operator and almost nobody has written one properly. It decides what requests reach you, and no amount of profile, photography or relationship work overrides it.
What belongs on it
Registration, type and seat configuration. Configuration rather than maximum seats, because those are different numbers and the second one misleads.
Hold volume in real dimensions. Not the brochure figure — what actually fits through the door.
Runway requirements as numbers. Length, width, surface, and the loading band each applies to. The specific aircraft is assigned on confirmation, based on passenger count, baggage and the destination field.
And endurance with a realistic load, rather than the maximum-range figure that assumes nothing aboard.
The four fields operators write vaguely
"Short field capable." This is not a runway category and it cannot be matched against anything. A field either accepts your aircraft at your weight or it does not, and that answer is a number.
"Ample baggage." Compared to what? Surfboards and dive gear defeat aircraft on dimensions long before weight, so give dimensions.
"Flexible." It reads as willing and matches as nothing.
And "contact us for details." Every request that would have been matched automatically now requires a conversation, which is the opposite of what a sheet is for. We show a "from" price per route; the final fare depends on the date, the group and the baggage, and is confirmed in writing before booking.
Why the field list matters more than the aircraft
Two operators with identical aircraft are not equivalent if one has written down which strips they actually accept and the other has not.
A Drake Bay run at 83.5 nautical miles, a Quepos hop at 33.4 and a Tortuguero transfer at 53.4 have different answers, and an operator who has recorded theirs per field is answering a question most cannot answer at all. That document is worth more than any marketing this business produces.
What to write for each field you serve
Length, width, surface, and the loading band you accept there — plus whether fuel is available and what handling exists.
Worst realistic conditions, not worst imaginable. A table built on conditions that occur twice a year will have you refusing work on the other three hundred days.
What not to put on it
Performance claims you have not verified at the weights you actually fly.
Anything aspirational. An aircraft that could do a field with a modification you have not made does not do that field.
And anything that belongs to your authority relationship. We run scheduled private flights across Central America; any other destination worldwide is coordinated on request.
The maintenance nobody does
Update it when something changes — a configuration change, a different prop, a field you have stopped accepting.
Put a date on it. A sheet with a revision date tells a counterparty how much to trust it, and an undated one gets treated as approximate no matter how accurate it is. Accuracy nobody can date is read as a claim rather than a fact.
An out-of-date sheet produces exactly two outcomes: requests you have to decline, and requests you never see. The first is visible and annoying; the second is invisible and expensive, and it is the one that quietly decides a quarter. Operators we bring on evidence current certification, insurance and fleet documentation before receiving a first assignment.
Frequently asked questions
What belongs on a spec sheet?
Registration, type and configuration, real hold dimensions, runway requirements as numbers, and endurance with a realistic load.
What is wrong with "short field capable"?
It is not a runway category and cannot be matched. A field accepts your aircraft at your weight or it does not, and that is a number.
Why does the field list matter more than the aircraft?
Because two operators with identical aircraft are not equivalent if only one has written down which strips they accept.
What conditions should the table assume?
Worst realistic, not worst imaginable — otherwise you refuse work on three hundred days a year.
What should not go on it?
Unverified performance claims, anything aspirational, and anything belonging to your regulator relationship.
What does an out-of-date sheet cost?
Requests you must decline, which is visible, and requests you never see, which is invisible and expensive.
Let us talk
Operators we bring on evidence current certification, insurance and fleet documentation before receiving a first assignment.