Avionics News July 2015 - 37

Are your customers
primarily local?
The vast majority of our customers
are within a few states of us, but we
get customers from all over. Due to
fuel costs, it is easier for the Grand
Junction location to get West Coast
customers. Our East Alton location is
easier for our East Coast customers.
We pull in airplanes from Mexico,
South America, Canada and overseas.
How's business?
It's good. West Star has carried a
steady business, with last year being
our best year yet, and this one is
looking to be just as good. Avionics
has its peaks and valleys - we will get
extremely busy and then there's a
bit of a lull, but we're excited about
upcoming equipment with the ADS-B
mandate. That will help business, as
will FANS. A lot of operators who fly
internationally will want that for flying
over the North Atlantic tracks - it can
give you a better routing.
What do you like
best about your job?
I like the interaction with customers.
A lot of customers come back year
after year, and it's fun getting to know
them. It's rewarding to make friends
with customers. It's also interesting to
make friends with people in different
parts of the country.
Another fun aspect about my job is
being able to travel. I do a number of
conventions and trade shows to visit
customers. If we have a specific package
proposed, we can go look at the aircraft

to plan for the installation. Face-to-face
interaction helps build a relationship
you can't get over a phone call.
What do you do for fun when
you're not working?
I take advantage of Colorado. I like
to camp, ski and go trail running into
the mountains and run along a dirt
path. It's relaxing and beautiful.
Any children?
I'm divorced and have a 14-year old
daughter, Kaitlin, who lives with me. She
is a freshman in high school and into
video games and the guitar. She is on the
swim team. Kaitlin is really interested in
music, but I don't know if that will be her
career. She's a good student but hasn't
picked a career field yet.
What else do you do for fun?
I enjoy elk hunting. Elk is a herd
animal specific to mountainous
regions. It's fun to get out with your
buddies and hunt. It's not about
whether you're successful or not,
it's just about getting outdoors and
seeing the countryside. We'll hike
miles into the mountains to shoot
an elk, then we cut it up in quarters
and it takes multiple trips to pack it
out. That can take all day. It's a lot of
work, but rewarding. One elk can give
you hundreds of pounds of healthy,
delicious meat. Sometimes we have
to hang the meat from a tree so the
bears don't get it.
I play golf on Saturdays, and I like
to ski. We have a local resort called
Powderhorn, which is less than an

hour from Grand Junction. It's not as big
as Vail, but it's nice and close.
What do you see for
your future?
We're proudly opening a
41,000-square-foot paint hangar in June
so we can paint Gulfstreams and Globalsized airplanes. Our current paint hangar
will still be in operation for the smaller
airframes. Being able to paint the larger
airframes will help bring work to other
departments, as well.
We're an Embraer service center now
so we will see an increase of Phenom
and Legacy airframes.
West Star is growing both in
employees and in facility size. This
growth will lead us into working on
larger-body aircraft. One of the factors
for our continued growth is that we
work on a broad scope of aircraft.
We work on anything from Conquest
IIs and King Airs to Gulfstreams and
Globals. We have all these different
areas of expertise, and that helps our
business model. When one department
is slow, manpower can be reallocated
to another department. The diversity in
airframes is challenging from an avionics
standpoint because every aircraft has a
different avionics platform. This keeps
me on my toes at all times, keeping up
with new systems and being a source of
expertise for every customer.
I see myself at West Star for a long
time. The company is great, and Grand
Junction is where I want to be. q
To learn more about West Star Aviation,
visit weststaraviation.com.
AVIONICS NEWS

*

JULY

2015

37


http://www.weststaraviation.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News July 2015

Point of Communication
AEA Now
The View from Washington
International News and Regulatory Updates
ADS-B Strategy Accelerated
Member Profile
More Power to the Panel
Legacy of Small Town Airports
A Conversation With...
Current Status of ADS-B Deployment in the U.S.
Member Profile
Garmin’s G3X Touch
Artisanal Avionics
The Standy Power Dilemma b
What’s Working?
Business Basics
Aviation Aces
What’s New
Marketplace Classifieds
Avionics News July 2015 - Intro
Avionics News July 2015 - Cover1
Avionics News July 2015 - Cover2
Avionics News July 2015 - 1
Avionics News July 2015 - 2
Avionics News July 2015 - 3
Avionics News July 2015 - Point of Communication
Avionics News July 2015 - 5
Avionics News July 2015 - AEA Now
Avionics News July 2015 - 7
Avionics News July 2015 - 8
Avionics News July 2015 - 9
Avionics News July 2015 - 10
Avionics News July 2015 - 11
Avionics News July 2015 - The View from Washington
Avionics News July 2015 - 13
Avionics News July 2015 - International News and Regulatory Updates
Avionics News July 2015 - 15
Avionics News July 2015 - 16
Avionics News July 2015 - 17
Avionics News July 2015 - ADS-B Strategy Accelerated
Avionics News July 2015 - 19
Avionics News July 2015 - 20
Avionics News July 2015 - 21
Avionics News July 2015 - Member Profile
Avionics News July 2015 - 23
Avionics News July 2015 - 24
Avionics News July 2015 - 25
Avionics News July 2015 - More Power to the Panel
Avionics News July 2015 - 27
Avionics News July 2015 - 28
Avionics News July 2015 - 29
Avionics News July 2015 - 30
Avionics News July 2015 - 31
Avionics News July 2015 - Legacy of Small Town Airports
Avionics News July 2015 - 33
Avionics News July 2015 - 34
Avionics News July 2015 - 35
Avionics News July 2015 - A Conversation With...
Avionics News July 2015 - 37
Avionics News July 2015 - Current Status of ADS-B Deployment in the U.S.
Avionics News July 2015 - 39
Avionics News July 2015 - 40
Avionics News July 2015 - 41
Avionics News July 2015 - 42
Avionics News July 2015 - 43
Avionics News July 2015 - Member Profile
Avionics News July 2015 - 45
Avionics News July 2015 - Garmin’s G3X Touch
Avionics News July 2015 - 47
Avionics News July 2015 - 48
Avionics News July 2015 - 49
Avionics News July 2015 - 50
Avionics News July 2015 - 51
Avionics News July 2015 - Artisanal Avionics
Avionics News July 2015 - 53
Avionics News July 2015 - 54
Avionics News July 2015 - 55
Avionics News July 2015 - The Standy Power Dilemma b
Avionics News July 2015 - 57
Avionics News July 2015 - 58
Avionics News July 2015 - 59
Avionics News July 2015 - What’s Working?
Avionics News July 2015 - 61
Avionics News July 2015 - 62
Avionics News July 2015 - 63
Avionics News July 2015 - Business Basics
Avionics News July 2015 - 65
Avionics News July 2015 - 66
Avionics News July 2015 - 67
Avionics News July 2015 - Aviation Aces
Avionics News July 2015 - 69
Avionics News July 2015 - 70
Avionics News July 2015 - 71
Avionics News July 2015 - 72
Avionics News July 2015 - 73
Avionics News July 2015 - What’s New
Avionics News July 2015 - 75
Avionics News July 2015 - 76
Avionics News July 2015 - 77
Avionics News July 2015 - Marketplace Classifieds
Avionics News July 2015 - 79
Avionics News July 2015 - 80
Avionics News July 2015 - Cover3
Avionics News July 2015 - Cover4
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