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just a few years later they were the owners of Watts Airport. The airport had been established way back in 1919 by the Yolo Fliers Club (Yolo is the name of the county in which Wood- land, the county seat, sits). It’s now called the Watts-Woodland Airport and is one of the oldest privately owned, public-use airports in the U.S. Coinci- dentally, in 1919, the first high school in California (this one in Los Angeles) began offering aviation instruction, and it was the year Milton was born. But it was nearby in San Francisco that a true aviation education pro- gram was established in 1936, while statewide high school aviation pro- grams were initiated in 1946 – the same year Milton began flying agri- cultural crop-dusting missions and managing the local flight school. He later acquired 13 Stearman aircraft for crop dusting, and in 1952 Milton and Dorothy bought the airport and started Watts Agricultural Aviation.
They opened Woodland Aviation in 1963 and started a long relationship with Beechcraft as a dealer. Their first Beech ever sold was a Debonair.
Milton and several of his agricul- tural flyers developed a business called TBM, Inc. Using surplus military air- craft, they met a need fighting Califor- nia’s wildfires. The TBM excelled at firefighting, and its success led Watts to transition to large tanker fire bomb- ers. The fleet included multiple types – B-17, DC-7, C-130, and F7F Tigercats (one of which would later perform at the Reno Air Races).
During the research for this story, I came across a 1972 California State re- port on aviation education. Milton Watts was highlighted.
The f light experience has resulted from closely working together with the Woodland City Airport Committee and specifically with one of its members, Mr. Milton B. Watts, who is a fixed- base operator at the Woodland Airport. Students f ly their orientation f light in a Beechcraft Musketeer. On a voluntary plan students participate by paying only one-third of the gasoline cost of the flight. The operation and school’s liability is covered by Woodland Aviation, Inc., and L.E. Wraith & Associates Insurance Com- pany of Woodland, with passenger liabil- ity in the amount of $100,000-$300,000.
Woodland High School offered an Aeronautical Science program oper- ated by its science department and was accepted to fill the physical sci- ence requirements for graduation. The course was offered not only to satisfy students’ aviation interests but also to serve a need to inform the general public of the multitude of services provided by aviation in California. On September 6th, 1972, Milton and Dorothy’s son, Bruce, turned 16 years old. He would accomplish his first solo flight, go to his first day as a junior at Woodland High, then be driven to the DMV to get his driver’s license, all on that same day.
Milton and Dorothy knew that help- ing to grow aviation from high-school- age students would only help business for everyone in the state. And they were right. Woodland Aviation was ex- panding its maintenance and sales ca- pabilities. In 1975, Beech gave them the responsibility to work on the King Air line. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Woodland continued
to grow, garnering
multiple industry
and Beech-specific
awards for excellence. They operated an air ambulance business and built a substantial charter and management f leet, including Falcon Jets, Hawkers and King Airs. It was at this time that Milton opened the Woodland Aviation jet services and management opera- tion at Yolo County Airport, KDWA.
By the 1990s, things were changing at Beechcraft with the OEM bring- ing its sales in-house. Woodland saw the writing on the wall and joined several of the other dealers in form- ing the Pinnacle Air Network to have a unified voice in negotiations with Beech’s new owners. They continued selling Beechcraft and also worked on Hawker jets and the new Starship. The business continued into the new millennium, but then another acquisi- tion for Beechcraft ended the relation- ships with its dealers for good. By 2007, Woodland aviation was acquired by Thomas Grant, a former customer and Beechcraft owner.
At the same time, Thomas Grant brought on Gary Pelfrey to head up operations at Yolo. Gary had an op- erations background without much aviation experience, but he was well known for successfully managing operations for contract manufac- turers in the U.S. and abroad. Gary relished the new role and through his many successes is now the vice president of Woodland Aviation and Accountable Manager for its Part 145 repair station, as well as managing their FBO, Davis Flight Support.
After the transition, Gary worked through multiple challenges while
Watts Agricultural Aviation opened in 1952.
Milton Watts and Olive Ann Beech.
March 2022 / TWIN & TURBINE • 19