Summit Leader Lands Props, Second Career (First Person)

My dad had an aeronautical engineering degree from Texas A&M University. He grew up flying airplanes and he would take me up on the weekends. I have always had that from my dad and I have dabbled in flying since I got out of college.

After graduating from Texas A&M, I went to work for Glad Products Co. in Rogers. After four moves for the company I came back to Rogers to run Glad’s South American division. The travel required for that job caused me to miss much of my children’s early years. When Glad asked me to run their entire international division, I opted to take early retirement.

A few years ago I finished restoring a 1953 AG-14 twin-boom airplane – there are only five left in the world. I won best in class at the Oshkosh air show that year.

When the tornado destroyed sections of the Bentonville airport in 2006, the existing fixed based operator walked away from the position. I saw an opportunity and created Summit Aviation.

The position has its unexpected challenges. I think I put more hours into this job than when I had my “real” job. But the freedom and the ability to do what I love is worth it.

We have been open for almost two years and I am really excited about what the business has accomplished.

Summit offers aircraft maintenance, flight school and fuel service for pilots at the Bentonville airport.

We are a Cessna pilot and service center and we are the only one in the state.

Summit has eight aircraft available for rent or lease.

I am looking for new areas to expand our business into. I hope to move into aircraft management this year.

We have 60 to 70 student pilots right now. It costs $5,500 to $7,000 to get your pilot’s license and requires more than 40 hours of flight training.

I am excited about the future, but right now I’m just trying to keep my focus on having fun.