Winter Windup: Change of Season Spurs Fleet Availability for St. Louis Area Aviation Service Providers

By Carmelo Turdo

The Aero Experience regularly visits our sponsors at St. Louis area airports to gather feature story material about these great aviation companies for use in future posts. While on site, we often capture some behind the scenes views of the essential maintenance and flight operations that make our aviation community function. As winter turns to spring, long-term maintenance projects are concluding, and fleet expansions are reaching the flightlines. Here we include some examples from Creve Coeur Airport and Spirit of St. Louis Airport.

Creve Coeur Airport, Maryland Heights, MO

The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation took advantage of the poor weather this week to accomplish a 300-hour/12-month inspection on their Bell Helicopter 206B (TH-67) in preparation for the upcoming summer flying season. The aircraft supports the Foundation's STEM outreach program at events around the region. Here we show Faith Ortega, A&P/IA, inspecting the tail rotor assembly assisted by Foundation President Joe Steimann and Pilot/CFI Nick Hisserich.

Gateway Flight Training has recently added a Cessna 310 multi-engine trainer and cross-country rental aircraft to their fleet. During our visit, the aircraft was undergoing a thorough inspection prior to entering service. The Aero Experience will have more coverage of this aircraft, and a flight review of their Cessna 182 Skylane, coming soon!

Piston Aviation continues to grow at Creve Coeur Airport, offering a mix of modern LSA trainers along with a selection of legacy Cessna and Piper aircraft. Here we feature our visit to the PistonLive online ground school studio and lounge after a Cherokee flight recovers to the fuel pumps. PistonLive offers a free trial and a wide selection of topics covered through interactive, online sessions with Piston Aviation CFIs. Their Bristell and Tomark Viper LSAs are some of the most modern training aircraft in the area.

Spirit of St. Louis Airport, Chesterfield, MO

Wings of Hope World Headquarters is home to the administrative staff, Medical Relief and Air Transport (MAT) fleet and the maintenance services essential to aircraft operations. Our recent story featured a more detailed tour of the Wings of Hope hangar, and here we include another look at the MAT fleet - Piper Navajo and Piper Senecas - and Cessna 206 utility aircraft. Also included here are aircraft donated to Wings of Hope to raise funds through sales and raffles. Spring raffle: Socata TB10 Tobago; sale aircraft: 415C Ercoupe and Cessna 150.

Elite Aviation, the area's premier flight school and maintenance service, offers an expansive fleet of late model Cessna 172 Skyhawks on the airport's north apron. Our brief visit shows the morning flightline and launch of the first two flights of the day. Along with the selection of Skyhawks (conventional and G1000-equipped), Elite Aviation offers a Piper Turbo Saratoga high-performance/complex trainer and cross-country cruiser and the Tecnam P2006T multi-engine trainer. We will have more coverage of the Tecnam multi-engine training program coming soon!

Creve Coeur Airport Pre-Spring March Update, Part 2

By Carmelo Turdo

The Aero Experience continues our coverage of general aviation activity at Creve Coeur Airport (1H0) with our Pre-Spring March Update, Part 2. Here we will present new material gained since our recent Pre-Spring March Update, Part 1.

Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation Non-Profit 501(c)(3)  

The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation continues to host their popular Intro to Flight program, an 8-week course that gives students and young adults aged 14-25 practical exposure to the knowledge and skills necessary to begin flight training or other aviation-related careers with confidence. Students from Classes 23 and 24 are progressing toward the conclusion of their course at the end of the month. Below are some views of their recent activities: lessons on basic flight maneuvers and weather with instructor Dave Kleinschmidt; flight simulator practice for the Top Gun Challenge scored pattern practical test; and aircraft pre-flight walk-through exercise led by Foundation President, Joe Steimann.

The Gateway Youth Aeronautical Foundation's Bell Helicopter TH-67 was in the air in recent weeks. The Foundation flies the former U.S. Army training helicopter to local STEM events as part of its mission to inspire youth interest in aviation. It will soon make appearances at the Spring SOAR Into STEM program, spring fly-ins and the upcoming Youth Aviation Day.

Gateway Chapter of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation and Flying Museum Non-Profit 501 (c)(3) Organization

The Aero Experience also regularly visits the Gateway Chapter of the Army Aviation Heritage Foundation and Flying Museum. The Gateway Chapter is part of the national organization whose mission is to "honor the sacrifice and service of veterans and their families by preserving and promoting the legacy of Army Aviation." The Foundation sponsors the Sky Soldiers Demonstration Team seen at airshows across the nation, and the local chapters also provide ride events at their base and other locations within their region. Since our Part 1 post, Cobra 766 has flown post-winter maintenance test flights and Huey 104 flew a group of World War II veterans on a special ride event over the St. Louis area. That story will be posted later this week as our latest installment of the General Aviation on a Mission series. Future events for the chapter include appearances at the Defenders of Liberty Airshow at Barksdale AFB, LA, a tour for the Cobra at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, MD and ride events on May 17 and June 7 at Creve Coeur Airport. 

Flight training continues to grow at Creve Coeur Airport, and here we feature a selection of aircraft from the airport-based flight schools. Piston Aviation's Cessna 172, Piper Cherokees and Viper LSA are shown during a morning muster last week. Gateway Flight Training's Cessna 182 has become a popular trainer and rental aircraft, and other aircraft in their inventory are seen here rotating through their regular inspections. The newly-acquired Cessna 310R shown here will soon join the fleet as a multi-engine trainer and rental aircraft.

The Aero Experience thanks Creve Coeur Airport and these great organizations for their contributions to Midwest Aviation. Check back soon for our coverage from Spirit of St. Louis Airport and St. Louis Regional Airport coming later this month.