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undeniable benefits to his business. He also often flew for pleasure and covered the contiguous United States, even dipping down in the Caribbean, the Bahamas, Jamaica, Mexico City and Cuba.
His welcomed copilot was son Warren, who often accompanied his father on land acquisition trips. The flying bug rubbed off on him, and he began flight training at 16, receiving his private license shortly after in 1978. In the subsequent decades, Warren worked his way up from Cessna 150s to Citation jets. Today, Warren still utilizes aviation for business and leisure purposes, whether visiting one of the company’s 130-plus apartment communities or taking his family on vacation. Warren holds the following type ratings: CE510, CE525 and CE550. He also owns a Marchetti 260 that he flies for fun and utilizes for upset and recovery training.
Recently following in the family tradition is another eager pilot – Warren’s daughter, Frances. Frances has been in and around a cockpit (starting with a Cessna 420) since she was four months old, and her positive attitude towards aviation has remained since. At age 19,
Sheldon Rose during a gliding trip in the late 1970s.
she began flight training in a Diamond DA40 and later moved to the venerable Cessna 150. In 2017, she completed her undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and joined the family business as a land acquisitions analyst. Frances continues to work toward her PPL in a Cirrus SR20, with the goal of completing this initial training this summer. She then plans to jump right into instrument training with multi- engine and Citation type rating work following soon after.
What is unique about her job now, compared to Sheldon’s acquisition work years ago, is technology’s game-changing effect on the industry. Frances says, “I look for land on which to build apartments as my grandfather did 50 years ago, only I use Google instead of a plane.”
Nonetheless, aviation remains an important asset. Throughout Edward Rose & Sons’ history, they have operated the following aircraft models: Cessna 421C, Cessna 425 Conquest, Beechcraft King Air 250GT,
Cirrus SR20, Cirrus SR22T, Citation Bravo, Citation 510 Mustang, CitationJet, CJ2+, and CJ3+. These aircraft have been based out of Oakland County International Airport (KPTK) near Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The company also enlists the help of paid contract pilots for various flying missions.
“Some of the division heads [in Sheldon’s time] had their own aircraft,” Warren said. “While the company does not employ any pilots at the present time, the pilots that operate our aircraft are independent contractors. We currently have about six pilots under contract with Lentini Aviation for their services.”
The contracted pilots fly the company’s current fleet of three Citation CJ3+’s, one King Air 200, and one Citation Mustang to construction projects (some projects taking up to 10 years) and managed properties across the United States. They each maintain currency in more than one of these aircraft and full-time pilots log anywhere from 500 to 800 hours of flight time a year.
28 • TWIN & TURBINE / May 2021
Left: The company’s King Air 200. Above: Grandaughter and aspiring pilot Frances Rose in 2008 following the delivery of a CJ2+.