Page 6 - Volume 11 Number 10

Hicks has refurbished two King Airs in a style he calls “rustic with a modern flair.” Dark wood cabinetry contrasts with
the tans of the distressed leather seats, the alligator skin sidewalls and the tan and white zebra print carpet.
“It’s completely changed our business,” said Hicks, 44, who now owns a 1981 Beechcraft King Air B200 and a 1997 Cessna Citation Ultra. He hires Oshman Aviation Group to operate the aircraft, which are flown about 300 hours a year for business and personal use from Hicks’ custom-built 10,000-square-foot hangar at Denton Enterprise Airport. And earlier this year, Hicks became an investor in Oshman Aviation Group.
An aviation pedigree
Although not a pilot, Hicks has spent plenty of time in small aircraft. His father, the late John Hicks, was a new Piper dealer in north Texas.
“All of our family vacations were in private airplanes, and I just thought it was the coolest thing ever as a kid,” Hicks said. “I remember flying to Ducks Unlimited meetings, Disney World and even going along with my dad to show or deliver airplanes.”
Being raised in the industry made aviation a natural solution when his business grew large enough. He started Hicks Lightning Protection in 2005, at first serving Texas and the surrounding states. Today the company has 66 employees and works in 15 states, installing lightning protection and grounding systems in new commercial buildings.
“The majority of our work is data centers,” Hicks said. “We work for a lot of big companies:
Facebook, Google, eBay, Microsoft.”
One of the company’s largest customers is CyrusOne, a Dallas-based real estate investment trust that has invested in more than 35 data centers in 11 markets.
“For most of our flying in Texas, you’re not going to be there any sooner if you fly a jet versus a King Air. We love the pilot availability and how easy it is to get parts for the King Airs. Plus, they hold their value well.”
“We bought the first airplane in 2014, a Piper Navajo, but it didn’t take long to know I wanted something safer, faster and bigger,” Hicks said.
After a year, Hicks traded the Navajo for a 1979 King Air 200. Since then, he has owned two different King Air 350 models and purchased his current 1981 King Air B200.
Now Hicks has the chance to take his own family, a wife and two daughters ages 5 and 7, on private flights, including to their beach house on the Texas coast and on golfing, hunting and fishing trips.
In addition to an exterior paint scheme
of Texas-style tans and browns, Mark
Hicks – founder and president of Dallas- based Hicks Lightning Protection – added lightning bolts to the wing tips on the 2005 King Air 350 he bought, refurbished and
sold recently.
4 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
OCTOBER 2017