Avionics News December 2022 - 59

hour. Lacy was on to something and said, " speed has
been the most important catalyst in the development of
the world. "
Lacy was flying for United Airlines as an airline pilot
as he got his business started at Van Nuys. He eventually
rose to No. 1 in seniority among United pilots and logged
a 42-year career. In his spare time, he set astonishing
speed and distance records in all sorts of aircraft and
logged more than 50,000 flight hours during his career.
In 1970, he flew his P-51 Mustang named the Purple
People Eater to the Reno Air Races and won the
event. This was the color because his good friend and
business partner, Al Paulson, had acquired an airline
that accidentally purchased 1,500 gallons of purple
paint instead of 50 gallons. When Paulson learned Lacy
hadn't selected a color for his racing plane, he had a
solution in hand. Lacy won the Unlimited Class National
Championship with a speed of 387.342 miles per hour.
The P-51 aircraft is still flying.
Today, Clay Lacy Aviation's business goal is to live up
to the unparalleled reputation built under the leadership
of its legendary founder. Lacy still owns a minority share
in the business that was purchased by Brian Kirkdoffer,
who is now president and chief executive officer.
Kirkdoffer learned to fly with Lacy and years later, in
1990, joined the company as a Learjet pilot and business
development executive.
The company is now in a major expansion phase. This
fall, the company began a complete redevelopment of
its FBO at John Wayne Airport in Orange County, with a
new 20,000-square-foot executive terminal and 110,000
square feet of hangar space. Construction also recently
began on the company's third FBO at KOXC, 7 miles
from Waterbury, Connecticut. The airport has a 5,800foot
runway and is strategically located between New
York City and Boston.
Cutshall said owners of business aircraft now based
in Boston and New York will be able to hangar them at
Clay Lacy for significantly less in fees and then have the
aircraft fly to an airport in or near the big cities to pick
up passengers. Teterboro, White Plains, Boston Logan
and Hanscom are among the likely pickup points.
New-model business jets keep getting bigger, so the
hangars at KOXC will have 29-foot door clearances to
accommodate the tallest jets, including the Global 7500,
the G700 and the Falcon 10X. The Falcon is the tallest
coming in at 28 feet at the tip of the tail. Cutshall noted
that the bigger planes also have increased requirements
for square footage of hangar space.
The Clay Lacy presence at KOXC started in 2016
when it acquired Key Air, an aircraft management and
charter company. This allowed it to expand services into
the northeastern market. The company noticed that the
northeast U.S. was one of the most popular destinations
for owners of business aircraft based in California.
Since 2016, the company has been adding its other
services and additional capabilities in Connecticut to
support aircraft owners including maintenance, repair
and overhaul. The company is building three new
40,000-square-foot hangars as part of its new FBO to
provide aircraft storage and maintenance in addition to
its existing 50,000-square-foot hangar.
The company plans to expand its 33-strong MRO
workforce substantially at KOXC, and it is working with
the CT Aerotech School for Aviation Maintenance in
Hartford, Connecticut, which offers a two-year aircraft
mechanic and aircraft maintenance curriculum leading to an
A&P certificate. Clay Lacy provides annual scholarships to
students there and is setting up an intern program.
At Van Nuys, the company has a 70,000-squarefoot
hangar, which is home to its MRO division, AOG
mobile response team, aircraft cleaning and detailing,
and one of the largest parts inventories in the Western
U.S. It's the largest Part 145 repair station the company
operates. It has been an Embraer authorized service
center since 2009. The VNY repair station employs
70 full-time workers and is an authorized dealer and
installer for major avionics manufacturers, including
Garmin, Honeywell, Collins, Gogo, Universal Avionics,
L3Harris, Mid-Continent Instruments and Avionics,
Sandel, Satcom Direct, FDS, and SmartSky Networks.
Recently, Clay Lacy had more than 30 open
positions in its MRO operation, which is one reason
it is partnering with a division of the Los Angeles
Unified School District on a program to educate aircraft
maintenance technicians at a school located on the
airport. The company has provided over $70,000 in
scholarships to aspiring A&P students since establishing
the scholarship program in 2015. In total at Van Nuys,
it has an additional 135,000 square feet of hangar space,
and the company's entire footprint is 21 acres with 70
aircraft based there, including a BBJ and Global 7500.
Clay Lacy MRO services also operates at two other
locations. It has an AOG mobile response team located at
Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington (BFI), and a satellite
FAA repair station at San Diego's McClellan-Palomar
Airport (CLD). q
To learn more about Clay Lacy Aviation,
visit claylacy.com.
avionics news * december 2022 59
http://www.claylacy.com
Avionics News December 2022

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