What started as a one-aircraft, father-and-son operated flight school in Waukesha, Wisconsin, 25 years ago is now a full service aviation company with 50 employees across three southeastern Wisconsin locations.
Beyond flight training, Spring City Aviation offers maintenance on all types of general aviation airplanes, FBO services, aircraft sales, aircraft management and an all-King Air charter operation.
The Behrens family had steadily grown their business over the years, then in December 2016 they nearly doubled the number of employees with the acquisition of a regional competitor. Taking over the operations of Milwaukee-based Gran-Aire Inc. was the jump-start to moving Spring City Aviation’s charter operation to an exclusively Beechcraft King Air fleet.
Despite nearly three months of little activity during the early part of the pandemic, the remainder of the year more than made up for that lost business. Spring City Aviation has added employees, purchased a 2020 King Ranch special edition King Air 360 and soon will add a 2006 King Air 350.
“We’ve seen increased activity in response to the COVID situation in every aspect of the business, from the flight school to owners using their aircraft more and thereby requiring more maintenance, as well as more managed aircraft and more charters being booked,” said Spring City Aviation founder and president Brian Behrens. “From everything we’re experiencing, I think general aviation is going to be strong over the next few years.”
Humble beginnings
Brian and his father Lonny Behrens started their flight school in 1996 at Waukesha Airport/Crites Airfield (KUES). They named it Spring City Aviation based on a historical reference to Waukesha, a city whose clean spring water earned the nicknames Spa City and Spring City.
Brian grew up flying with his dad, who was a corporate pilot and designated pilot examiner, and the pair rebuilt a 1968 American Champion Citabria when Brian was a teenager working at the nearby American Champion factory. Brian earned a four-year degree in aerospace studies from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and soon after graduating in 1995, they started the business using that Citabria.
In 2001, Lonnie was ready to retire so Brian bought his half of the company to become president and sole owner of Spring City Aviation. By then, Brian was a pilot with Midwest Express Airlines, a local airline flying Beechcraft 1900 twin-engine turboprop aircraft out of Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport.
He continued flying for Midwest while operating the flight school until 2008, when the economic crisis hit the airline industry. At that point he turned his attention fulltime to growing Spring City Aviation. He added a charter certificate offering piston aircraft and acquired more hangars at KUES to provide FBO services.
In May 2016, they expanded the same services to Burlington Municipal Airport (KBUU), where they cover customers in the southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois areas. Then in December 2016, they moved into the Milwaukee area by acquiring the employees and operations of Gran-Aire, which had operated at Timmerman Airport (KMWC) since 1946. They offer the same services at Timmerman plus fuel sales.
In January 2020, Spring City Aviation moved into a new hangar at KUES and continues to operate its corporate headquarters from Waukesha. In 25 years they’ve grown from two to 50 employees and from 6,400 square feet in one hangar to about 236,000 square feet of hangar space at three airports. Behrens said all segments contribute to the business equally.
King Air fits the bill
Spring City Aviation’s Milwaukee Timmerman location has been maintaining, repairing and upgrading King Airs for more than 20 years. Mechanics are factory-trained and take care of outside and based customers from Model 90s through 350s, operating under FAR Part 135 and Part 91.
The company also is managing one King Air, in addition to operating four King Air models for charter.
(Photo credit: Bridget Johnson)
“Our charter certificate over the years has had everything from Beechcraft Dukes to Cessna 414s, Cessna 421s and Piper Navajos,” Behrens said. “We made the decision to do away with all the piston equipment and to focus on turbine, specifically the King Airs, after we acquired Gran-Aire’s King Air B200 and their charter customers.”
Besides moving to turbine reliability, Behrens chose to rebuild the charter operation around the King Air line because he knew his customers would appreciate the ramp appeal, airstair door and roomy cabins. From an operational standpoint, he could rely on good product support and parts availability, as well as the benefit of familiarity among Spring City Aviation’s mechanics and pilots.
“The simplest way to put it, is that the King Air fits the bill for the types of trips we’re flying,” he said. “The King Air is a good platform for our mostly Midwest-based missions. From flights in the Great Lakes region out to the Great Plains for hunting or up to Canada for fishing trips. There’s plenty of room and they carry a good load, plus they are good for when we need to go into gravel strips.”
Spring City Aviation flew its charter fleet of King Air aircraft about 2,000 hours in 2020, up from 1,250 in 2019.
That fleet includes two 1979 King Air 200 models with PT6A-41 engines, N477JM and N335TA, and a 1978 King Air C90 with PT6A-21 engines, N549BR.
N335TA is equipped with a Garmin 430W and Sperry autopilot system. They’ve recently added frakes exhaust for both performance and looks, as well as new swept-blade propellers.
N477JM has a Garmin 530W and Collins autopilot, dual aft strakes and wing lockers. It can also be equipped with aft jump seats.
N549BR is a mostly stock C90 with a Garmin 530W and Century IV autopilot system.
“All three aircraft have onboard radar and satellite weather, and have proven very reliable for us in service,” said Gavin Leake, chief pilot for Spring City Aviation’s charter and acquisition segments. “We’re looking forward to adding N260TT, a new King Air 360, and hope to have it available to customers very soon.”
A strong outlook
Behrens is counting on the King Air 360 – and the 2006 King Air 350 they are currently negotiating to add to the charter certificate – allowing them to expand their relationship with repeat charter customers who occasionally need an aircraft bigger than the 200.
(Photo credit: Bridget Johnson)
“We’ve always focused on a personalized approach to this business where we like to have customers that we work with over years and years, versus just one trip to the East Coast and we never talk to them again,” he said. “Maybe that’s the Midwestern in us, but we take pride in the fact that our customers keep coming back.”
Behrens didn’t choose the faster, roomier and more modern King Air 360, he chose the King Ranch King Air, a co-branding effort between Textron Aviation and the famous 825,000-acre King Ranch in South Texas. The special edition has a themed paint scheme paired with details such as pewter trim accents and other distinctive elements and accessories in the cabin.
Besides adding the newest Beechcraft King Air model to the fleet and boosting employment in 2020, the company also placed a King Air in Naples, Florida, in the middle of the year. They were able to use a customer’s hangar that was unoccupied to test the charter waters in Florida and Behrens said based on demand so far, it will likely be a permanent option.
“I think general aviation is going to stay strong for the next three to five years,” he said. “Our growth plans are to continue to focus on safety and to service all of our existing customers. Probably our biggest growth opportunity is to expand our charter fleet to include a jet so we can meet that need for our existing customers and tap into a new segment, too.”