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This author grew up in the 1970s in an aviation family. My grandfather was a military pilot who flew in the European theater during World War II. My dad learned to fly on his own, often taking the family on sightseeing trips or vacations in whatever various Cessnas and Pipers were available to rent in Dallas. Back then, a mystique surrounding air travel still existed. A kid could look up into the sky and see a Braniff or Southwest 737 in bril- liant livery departing Love Field and then actually go to the airport and watch people getting on and off the planes – indeed, right at the gate. TSA didn’t exist, and I don’t remem- ber any fences around airports. Pi- lots were generally revered, as were the technical professionals working on aircraft.
commercial airports – the cattle call at the gate and the invasive nature of TSA personnel examining you and your carry-on. It’s harder and harder to get a kid enthused about the po- tential aviation offers. The negative perceptions of air travel combined with pilot and technician shortages can potentially cripple the industry. There are rays of hope, though. A few in the industry are taking things into their own hands, providing the next generation of aviation professionals a preview of how cool it is. Young people just haven’t been able to see it.
Last month in the Twin & Tur- bine “Company Chronicles” column, we learned about the Stolzfus family from Pennsylvania and their patri- arch, Chris Stolzfus. Not long after the Wright brothers flew in Kitty Hawk,
aviation company after working for their dad – K & K in Bridgewater, Virginia. K & K eventually transi- tioned to its current name Dynamic Aviation. And under the leadership of Karl’s son, Michael, its current CEO, the company has grown and f lour- ished and is seeing unprecedented
Staff member Kala Dougan instructs students at the electrical station as they work together to assemble a circuit board.
Of course, things changed. There was a sort of commoditization of the airlines. Rather than differentiation by service level, airlines started merging and acquiring and particu- lar routes became the differentiation. Deregulation led to higher competi- tion and lower prices – which, I get it, is good. But seemingly the continual drive for higher profits led to smaller and smaller seats and service suf- fered. Tie this together with the less- than-spectacular experience at most
10 • TWIN & TURBINE / August 2022
“Airplane Chris” as he was known in his small farming community, saw an opportunity and founded an agri- cultural aviation and parts business. Recruiting for new positions back then often required roping in your offspring to do things around the fam- ily business. People were so spread out in rural areas that the only kids you’d see regularly were your own. That was no problem for the Stolzfus clan. They had their twins, Karl and Ken, who went on to found their own
Participants are afforded the opportunity to fly in a dedicated King Air.