Page 10 - Volume 15 Number 3

8 • ­TWIN & TURBINE MARCH 2011Randy HardyPresident, Hardy Aviation Insuranceaviation insurance agency in 1995. Specializing in insuring crop dusters, Randy has owned a succession of airplanes in his business. Today, he owns a picture-perfect 1960 Cessna 310, which he bases at Stearman Field near Wichita, Kan.“I use it for business travel 99 percent of the time, flying to see clients and attending conventions. Our agency writes business in 44 states and it’s a faster, more efficient way to travel,” he said. “Aviation for me is not a luxury. I can get to out-of-the-way places where you couldn’t get to very easily otherwise.”Flying isn’t all work and no play for Randy. Two years ago, he purchased a 1943 Stearman PT-17.“I have flown for 33 years, and at times it gets boring flying for business. However, there has not been a day that I haven’t had a thrill jumping in the open cockpit, letting what hair I have left fly,” he chuckled. “I just love flying it.”Randy loves giving rides, especially to kids who’ve never flown in a general aviation airplane before. “What’s the point of having airplanes if you can’t share it with others?” he said.The way Randy Hardy uses his business airplane isn’t particularly glamorous or even very exciting. As the owner of an aviation insurance brokerage specializing in agricultural operations, his typical missions are to sleepy small towns in America’s heartland. However, you won’t meet someone who is more passionate about general aviation and its value as a business tool.Whether he’s flying the company twin or his restored 1943 Stearman, one thing is guaranteed: Randy will have a smile on his face.In high school, Randy learned to fly in 1978 simply because he had always wanted to. Although he had attended college to become a photojournalist, he was bitten by the aviation bug and decided to pursue a career around airplanes. He heard that Van Dusen Aircraft Supplies was hiring salesmen who had a minimum of 100 hours flight time. Randy only had 80 in his logbook.“Like a typical kid, if someone would pay me to fly an airplane somewhere, I’d do it,” he said.After a trip from Kansas to Florida delivering and picking up airplanes,he met the 100-hour requirement and was hired as a flying salesman, calling on customers throughout Kansas and Nebraska. The company- provided airplane was a Cessna 172.“I had 300 customers to call on every three weeks, so I’d take off on a Monday and come home on Friday,” Randy recalled.After Van Dusen was bought by Aviall, he went to work as a salesman for Wilco, an aircraft parts supplier in Wichita, Kan. After a stint selling insurance for PIM Aviation Insurance, he launched his own