Avionics News April 2012 - 29

Williams honestly seemed surprised to be the subject of this profile. “The real icon of avionics is LeRoy Dahler,” who gave Williams his first job. The founder of Avionics Specialists Inc., “LeRoy spawned the whole industry down here in Memphis.” Dahler moved there in 1960, to become the sales manager for a new avionics repair company, Airborne Electronic. A start-up, the three-person company needed someone to set up the parts department. “I can’t remember how he just showed up on our doorstep,” Dahler said, but Williams “got the job.” Williams, who grew up in the little town of Como, Miss., and moved to Memphis as a teenager, filled in the blanks. Graduating from a vocational radio and TV repair program at White Haven High School in 1960, Williams was working in a grocery store when his teacher called with news that Airborne Electronics was looking for technicians. “He put me to work in the parts department, and I never got out,” he said, chuckling. Starting from scratch, Williams cleaned out “a small room full of empty paint buckets – they had just finished building the shop – and made a parts room out of it,” he remembered. “Somewhere along 1963, I took over as sales manager, selling avionics, repairs, inspec-

tions and interiors, whatever we were doing.” Dahler stepped up to vice president when the new owner turned Airborne Electronics into a fullservice FBO that did everything from paint to jet engine repair. Describing Williams as a quick learner with tremendous memory, Dahler said he is, in the best sense

“to put up the money if I put up the time.” Memphis Avionics opened in 1971. Around 1985, Williams bought out his friends, and one of the founding employees bought in to the company renamed The Memphis Group, which is how people generally referred to the family of small companies Williams had built since 1971.

A few of the aircraft parted-out by The Memphis Group.

of the words, an aggressive, tenacious, self-starting salesman with an honest concern for customers. “I’ve got a plaque hanging on the wall that says I’m the King Man of the Year (for 1970),” Dahler said of his close friend. “I got the recognition, but he was really the man responsible.” During his 11 years at Airborne, Williams developed a niche for used avionics. Two friends thought they could make money in the used equipment business, so they offered

Initially, the nascent company focused on the piston market. His two-week notice to Airborne soon grew to six weeks, Williams said, and during this time he met a “guy that had been coming in and out of there named Fred Smith.” (If the name sounds familiar, but you can’t quite place it, he started FedEx.) He also was bidding on a disabled Falcon in Boca Raton, working with another company that would
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Avionics News April 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News April 2012

Point of Communication
AEA Now
The View from Washington
International News and Regulatory Updates
Datalink Weather
Member Profile
Where Are They Now?
Before & After
Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie
A Conversation With...
Aircraft Electrical Wiring
Meet the AEA Staff
Member Profile
The AEA Ambassador Program
Business Basics
Pro-to-col
Industry Profile
Theory & Practice
What's New
Marketplace Classifieds
Avionics News April 2012 - Cover1
Avionics News April 2012 - Cover2
Avionics News April 2012 - 1
Avionics News April 2012 - 2
Avionics News April 2012 - 3
Avionics News April 2012 - Point of Communication
Avionics News April 2012 - 5
Avionics News April 2012 - AEA Now
Avionics News April 2012 - 7
Avionics News April 2012 - 8
Avionics News April 2012 - 9
Avionics News April 2012 - 10
Avionics News April 2012 - 11
Avionics News April 2012 - 12
Avionics News April 2012 - 13
Avionics News April 2012 - 14
Avionics News April 2012 - 15
Avionics News April 2012 - The View from Washington
Avionics News April 2012 - 17
Avionics News April 2012 - International News and Regulatory Updates
Avionics News April 2012 - 19
Avionics News April 2012 - Datalink Weather
Avionics News April 2012 - 21
Avionics News April 2012 - 22
Avionics News April 2012 - 23
Avionics News April 2012 - Member Profile
Avionics News April 2012 - 25
Avionics News April 2012 - 26
Avionics News April 2012 - 27
Avionics News April 2012 - Where Are They Now?
Avionics News April 2012 - 29
Avionics News April 2012 - 30
Avionics News April 2012 - 31
Avionics News April 2012 - 32
Avionics News April 2012 - Before & After
Avionics News April 2012 - Phoebe Fairgrave Omlie
Avionics News April 2012 - 35
Avionics News April 2012 - 36
Avionics News April 2012 - 37
Avionics News April 2012 - A Conversation With...
Avionics News April 2012 - 39
Avionics News April 2012 - Aircraft Electrical Wiring
Avionics News April 2012 - 41
Avionics News April 2012 - 42
Avionics News April 2012 - 43
Avionics News April 2012 - 44
Avionics News April 2012 - 45
Avionics News April 2012 - Meet the AEA Staff
Avionics News April 2012 - 47
Avionics News April 2012 - 48
Avionics News April 2012 - 49
Avionics News April 2012 - Member Profile
Avionics News April 2012 - 51
Avionics News April 2012 - 52
Avionics News April 2012 - 53
Avionics News April 2012 - The AEA Ambassador Program
Avionics News April 2012 - 55
Avionics News April 2012 - 56
Avionics News April 2012 - 57
Avionics News April 2012 - 58
Avionics News April 2012 - 59
Avionics News April 2012 - Business Basics
Avionics News April 2012 - 61
Avionics News April 2012 - 62
Avionics News April 2012 - 63
Avionics News April 2012 - 64
Avionics News April 2012 - 65
Avionics News April 2012 - Pro-to-col
Avionics News April 2012 - 67
Avionics News April 2012 - 68
Avionics News April 2012 - 69
Avionics News April 2012 - Industry Profile
Avionics News April 2012 - 71
Avionics News April 2012 - 72
Avionics News April 2012 - 73
Avionics News April 2012 - Theory & Practice
Avionics News April 2012 - 75
Avionics News April 2012 - 76
Avionics News April 2012 - 77
Avionics News April 2012 - 78
Avionics News April 2012 - 79
Avionics News April 2012 - What's New
Avionics News April 2012 - 81
Avionics News April 2012 - 82
Avionics News April 2012 - 83
Avionics News April 2012 - 84
Avionics News April 2012 - 85
Avionics News April 2012 - Marketplace Classifieds
Avionics News April 2012 - 87
Avionics News April 2012 - 88
Avionics News April 2012 - Cover3
Avionics News April 2012 - Cover4
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