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Company
Chris Stoltzfus
Dynamic Aviation
by Lance Phillips
Chronicles
Stoltzfus Dusting Fleet
When one owns the first Air Force One air- craft, you know something special is hap- pening. That’s the way it is for the Stoltzfus family – special. Originally from the rolling hills of southeast Pennsylvania where family patriarch Christian “Airplane Chris” D. Stoltzfus staked a claim, this is a family whose aviation credentials go way back – back to the beginning of our industry in the United States.
Chris purchased his first airplane, a 37 HP Aeronca C-2, in 1936. He added J-3 Cubs and then entered the agricultural aviation business in 1944 with a Travel Air 4000 duster, which he operated until 1952. In 1947 he had broken a rod on the Wright J-5 engine of the Travel Air and made a forced landing in a nearby field. The Wright was replaced with a Continental W-670 at that time.
Also in 1947, Chris acquired 12 government surplus Boeing Stearmans, which were soon joined by other air- planes, all becoming the backbone of his agricultural air- craft fleet for many years. He operated as AERO CROP SERVICE in those days. By the late 1950’s the ever-evolving business saw advantages to replacing the 220-horsepower Continental and Lycoming engines with 450-horsepower Pratt & Whitney radials for its forest spraying.
Chris was in the aircraft parts business, alongside the agricultural operation. The company name was changed to Chris D. Stoltzfus & Associates in 1958 when his twin
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sons Karl and Ken became partners. The Stearmans were followed by Beechcraft BE-18s, Grumman TBM Avengers, Douglas C-47s, Chase YC-122s “Boxcars,” and a Boeing B-17, which later became EAA’s “Aluminum Overcast.”
The old Travel Air 4000 mentioned previously, N469N, had 1,755 hours when Chris sold it to another agricul- tural aviator in Conway, Arkansas. In 1976 that same airplane was restored with the original Wright engine and brought back to standard category designation. Fi- nally, in 2013 N469N was purchased by Chris’ son Karl in Bridgewater, Virginia and put on display, along with the Continental W670 that Chris had installed in ‘47.
Around the age of 10, Karl Stoltzfus liked to go to the attic of his family’s Coatesville, Pennsylvania home with a