Page 12 - Volume 10 Number 9

to make the work environment better for them. They appreciate the flexibility of knowing if there’s something they have to do, they can and instead of doing one thing you may be able to do three.
“We had a question on some material the other day so we had our customer fly down with us to the mill that was manufacturing the material for us,” Schupan continued. “The King Air has been terrific for building relationships and solving issues in a timely manner.”
The aircraft is based at Kalamazoo/Battle Creek International Airport (AZO) with maintenance provided by Kalamazoo Aircraft. It is owned by Schupan through Green & White LLC (Michigan State school colors) and he contracts with Kelsey of Everley Air Management, LLC to manage and crew the aircraft. Schupan & Sons flies about 100 hours a year and Schupan also uses the King Air for family vacations, to central Florida or fishing trips in northern Ontario, for example.
Green & White LLC dry leases to two other companies that Schupan has a personal or business relationship with, bringing the annual total for the King Air to about 200 hours. They are making the aircraft available to a charter company based in Kalamazoo for additional hours.
The 1985 King Air has 8,600 hours on the airframe and the engines are at 2,200 hours since new.
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Pilot Lance Kelsey, owner of Everley Air Management, LLC, manages and crews the 1985 King Air C90A owned by Marc Schupan’s Green & White LLC. (COURTESY OF SCHUPAN & SONS, INC.)
“When we got the aircraft, it already had the Blackhawk conversion and the Raisbeck performance packages, so it was as performance capable as it’s ever going to be minus getting the new five-blade whisper props,” Kelsey said. “From an avionics standpoint, it has a Garmin GMX200 and two Garmin GNS530 WAAS units. Marc asked if we needed to make any upgrades and my response was that there’s no reason to go to a full glass cockpit because it just looks nicer. We can get into any airport as well as the more modern King Airs and we’re perfectly equipped the way we are.”
Short of winglets, Kelsey said, Schupan’s 1985 model looks the same externally as the models coming off the production line today in Wichita. And, soon, the interior will look factory-fresh as well. Kelsey was scheduled to deliver the airplane to Unique One in Pontiac in August for a full interior refurbishment in the same color scheme offered by Beechcraft.
“Back in the TCB days, the other owner used the airplane for some in-house cargo operations that did
10 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
SEPTEMBER 2016