Taking Business to the Air

“It’s just like any other work day,” he said.

Davidson’s been a pilot since 1999, but that’s not his full-time gig. He’s executive manager for Aurora-based Mayse Automotive Group and runs its lot in Parsons.

When Rick Mayse opened that lot in 2003, he bought a plane and tabbed Davidson to commute. Flying shaves about two hours off the daily round trip.

Having Davidson and his Piper Seneca at its disposal also allows the General Motors dealer to fly executives conveniently to meetings and conferences.

“It’s really changed the complexion of our company,” Davidson said. “It’s allowed us to be flexible.”

While several Springfield companies – such as John Q. Hammons Hotels & Resorts, Killian Construction, Loren Cook Co. and BKD LLP – use private planes and pilots to tote around key executives, there’s an underground group of professionals that takes to the skies solo.

A new perspective

Joining Davidson in that group is John Heitz, broker for ReMax House of Brokers. Heitz has been flying for 25 years.

He said 25 percent of his flying time is business-related, taking aerial photos of land for clients. The lofty perspective lets clients see how close a development site is to major roads and other commercial centers.

Heitz said Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton was a pilot and used to fly over towns to scout Wal-Mart locations, picking spots based on the number of church roofs he counted.

Heitz said commercial brokers commonly hire pilots to get aerial photos.

“It’s a tool that is really very, very useful in my business,” Heitz said of his Blancia Scout.

“Aerial photographs are almost a must when it comes to commercial real estate.”

Time is money

Geoffrey Butler, CEO of Springfield architecture firm, Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc., has been a pilot for 10 years.

While he could hire someone to fly him to inspect projects and meet clients, he wants to control the plane himself.

“Hell, that’s the most fun part of it,” Butler said.

Butler, like Davidson and Heitz, keeps his plane at Springfield-Branson National Airport. Butler said he’s able to fly wherever he wants whenever he wants.

He’s flown as far away as Pennsylvania for business. Airports usually have complimentary cars for him to use when he reaches his destination.

Butler has found flying himself to be cheaper and quicker than buying a commercial airline ticket if traveling within a 500-mile radius. It’s even cheaper than driving his car, he said.

For Butler, whose hourly bill rate is $190, time really is money. If he drives to Kansas City and back, for example, he spends $169 in travel expenses and loses $1,140 of billable office time.

He said the same Kansas City roundtrip would cost him $80 more to fly, but it also would get him back in the office a lot sooner, saving him $665 in billable office time.

Flying is fun … and pricey

Davidson, Heitz and Butler all have a passion for flying. Fortunately for them, they also have business applications for their planes. Otherwise, it would just be an expensive hobby.

Single-engine prop planes easily cost more than $100,000, and business jets cost several million dollars. Add to that the thousands of dollars pilots spend for training and 100-octane, low lead plane fuel for about $5 a gallon.

But every penny is worth it, according to Davidson.

“If I couldn’t fly an airplane, I don’t know what I would do,” he said. “I mean it from the bottom of my heart, there has never been a time that I haven’t pulled that airplane out of the hangar and been excited when an engine starts to fire up.”

Want to fly?

Pro Flight Air can teach you. A.J. Wahlquist, manager for the flight school, said Pro Flight Air certifies about 15 private pilots a year. That basic certification takes about $5,000 and 60 flying hours to accomplish. Want to take it to the next level? Getting instrument-rated will cost another $5,000 or so, and getting commercial-rated requires 250 flying hours and costs about $15,000. Pro Flight Air, established in 1984, is located at the Springfield-Branson National Airport. It has six instructors and nine planes. For more information, call (417) 864-7229.

Business Pilot Profiles

Name: Geoffrey Butler

Profession: Architect and CEO of Butler, Rosenbury & Partners Inc.

Plane: Piper Archer

Flying rating(s): Instrument

Years flying: 10

Annual flying hours: 200

Name: Stan Davidson

Profession: Executive manager for Mayse Automotive Group

Plane: Piper Seneca

Flying rating(s): Commercial, multi-instrument

Years flying: 7

Annual flying hours: 700

Name: John Heitz

Profession: Broker for ReMax House of Brokers

Plane: Blancia Scout

Flying rating(s): Instrument, single-engine land, glider

Years flying: 25

Annual flying hours: 80