Time Pieces would like
to do a little bragging... for a good reason. They are announcing
the sale of its first vintage fractional franchise.
Organized to handle the tremendous amount of interest generated
by its initial press coverage, Time Pieces has now started after
its goal of "a franchise in every state." Bob May and Ron Dillard
will operate the new Time Pieces Franchise location at Creve Coeur
Airport, located in St. Louis, Missouri, with a nostalgic Piper
Cub.
Bob, being both a retired TWA and Navy pilot that was carrier
qualified in T-6's, has also operated many businesses in the St.
Louis area and looks forward to utilizing his skills on a venture
that promotes general aviation.
Ron, a former Army pilot, currently a pilot for Anheuser Busch
with a history of flying and selling cropdusters, often gives
rides, in his Citabria, to kids with a passion for aviation. The
two of them decided a Time Pieces Franchise was the best way to
continue the availability of tailwheel aircraft at a time when
tailwheel rentals have all but disappeared and together they plan
to grow the business while having fun.
Ginger Davidson, President of Time Pieces, states that "Creve
Coeur Airport is a focal point for vintage aviation in the area and
is therefore a perfect location for a Time Pieces operation." Creve
Coeur Airport, a privately-owned public-use airport located 30
minutes west of Saint Louis City, is home to one of the greatest
collections of vintage aircraft in the country.
In April 2003, Time Pieces started operations at Mt. Comfort
Airport (MQJ), Indianapolis, Indiana. By eliminating the hassles of
vintage aircraft ownership, the company created a program that
allows more pilots to experience the thrill of "stick and rudder"
flying while potentially saving many aircraft from the status of
hangar queen or even worse, static display in a museum.
"One of my main goals was to keep vintage aviation alive" said
Ginger Davidson when asked about her reasons for starting the
company. "It's virtually impossible to rent these great aircraft
anymore and therefore the machines and pilots with skills to fly
them are disappearing rapidly.
One day I realized that the expense of owning such an aircraft
just for an occasional flight didn't make sense and that it was the
costs associated with sole ownership that was quickly leading to
the extinction of what I call true flying. The only practical
solution to the problem was shared ownership, better known as
fractionals."
When asked about the companies recent expansion, Davidson said
the following," After the initial press coverage, there were so
many requests for the program, I was forced to look at expansion
solutions that would allow growth while maintaining safety and
quality.
Additionally, I had to find a way to finance the operation. This
led me to the idea of franchising. It allows for a quality and
safe expansion of the business with an onsite management team
holding a vested stake in the success of the operation. I'm really
excited about the future of the program." Another goal of Time
Pieces is to be known for a quality product over a large
geographical area.
"Aviation suffers from a lack of standardization at its core,"
says Davidson. "I like to use McDonalds or Starbucks as examples;
many people go there because they know what they will come away
with. You don't have that in aviation. What you have is a pot
luck system with individual operators at every airport. Time Pieces
plans to correct this issue.