The Aero Experience Week In Review: Challenging Projects Accepted...And Accomplished!

By Carmelo Turdo

The Aero Experience looks back on another great week with the Midwest Aviation Community! Spring has arrived, and with it more challenges will be tackled as many of the winter projects are completed. Weather in the St. Louis area has been marginal at best, and downright awful, for much of the last week. Still, we have much progress to report in abbreviated form here and in-depth in the coming days. We hope you enjoy this look at our week in review!

On Saturday, April 30, Wings of Hope held a Career Exploration Fair to close out the Spring SOAR Into STEM Program. Students from around the St. Louis area met directly with representatives from higher educational institutions and employers who are working together to address the current aerospace industry workforce shortage. Here we include a look at some of the exhibitors interacting with the students throughout the fair.

  

Also on April 30, our friend Jim Johnson was awarded the FAA's Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award during his 75th birthday party at Creve Coeur Airport. He is a past Charles Taylor Master Mechanic Awardee, and he and his son, Jimmy Johnson, are well known among the vintage aircraft community. We will have more coverage of Jim Johnson's aviation career in a future story.

On Sunday, May 1, the St. Louis Rocketry Association held a launch event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 16 mission to the moon. The highlight of the day was the launching of David Kovar's Saturn V rocket from his custom launch pad, complete with venting and launch smoke generation prior to liftoff. Complete coverage coming soon on The Aero Experience.

Also on Sunday, Fred Harl attended the Perryville, MO Airport Fly-In for a day of aviation fun in southeast Missouri. Sunday was a sunny day in between storm fronts that kept most general aviation aircraft on the ground for much of the week. Here are some views of the arrivals.

 

On a gloomy Monday, May 2, we visited Gateway Flight Solutions at Creve Coeur Airport. The maintenance team was busy with several projects, including a major avionics refit and a new customer with a unique aircraft. The King Air avionics update continues, with light appearing at the end of the tunnel. We will share the results soon when the project is completed. A new resident of the hangar, a very nicely painted 1963 Cessna 210C Centurian, was undergoing repairs to the hydraulic system that retracts the landing gear. The downward motion of the main gear retraction mechanism necessitates extra tall jack stands for swinging the gear.

On Tuesday and Friday, still under low ceilings and intermittent rain, we went to Big River Aviation at St. Louis Downtown Airport. Here another long-term project, the repair and return to service of a Piper Malibu Mirage that had been damaged while landing at St. Louis-Lambert International Airport, was completed and the aircraft was flown out by the owner on Friday. Repair of the aircraft from the firewall forward - including a new firewall, engine and propeller - was completed before the aircraft was ferried to Big River Aviation for the annual inspection. The owner was pleased with the results! Complete coverage of this project coming soon on The Aero Experience.

Also on Friday, we captured a Citation Mustang, managed by Gateway Jets, departing St. Louis Downtown Airport on a local repositioning flight. Gateway Jets provides comprehensive aircraft management and acquisition services for the Cessna Citation series and other types as well. Check out our video introducing the Gateway Jets Citation Mustang.

On Thursday, Elite Aviation celebrated their five-year anniversary in business at Spirit of St. Louis Airport. On yet another cloudy day, the staff gathered in the hangar for an appreciation luncheon provided and served by John and Donna Tipton, owners of Elite Aviation. The flight school and maintenance services have grown considerably over the years, building a reputation for quality service and offering late-model aircraft for training and rental.

On Saturday, May 7, Elite Aviation hosted the first lesson flights for the SOAR Into STEM students on what was finally a beautiful, sunny day. 28 high school students were flown, and the flight school student pilots were also in the air for their scheduled training. Here we share just small sample of the joy of flight experienced by the SOAR Into STEM students! More coverage coming soon on The Aero Experience!

Also on Saturday, two of CFI Scott Kaskeski's student pilots reached solo flight milestones. Daniel St. Louis flew his solo flight in the local training area and Sam Moore flew his first solo in the pattern at Spirit of St. Louis Airport. Congratulations and future success to them both!