Winging it: Fledgling flight business, NorthStar Aviation, augments Hamilton airport

Steve Wolters runs his very own service station, but it’s unlike any in the valley.

Located east of Hamilton at the picturesque Ravalli County Airport, NorthStar Aviation services airplanes and provides amenities for the people who use them.

By ROD DANIEL Staff Reporter

http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2004/10/27/bitterroot/70-business.txt

"Basically we’re a full-service aviation service station," Wolters said, wearing blue "gas-station" coveralls with an Exxon patch on the chest. "We offer fuel, maintenance, flight instruction, airplane rental, hangaring and rental cars."

A native of Twin Falls, Idaho, and himself a pilot, Wolters and his wife Michelle moved to the Bitterroot in 1996 and started NorthStar in 2002 after seeing the need for a full-service aviation service at the Hamilton airport.

"I flew back and forth from Idaho to Hamilton for years," he said. "And I could tell this airport was lacking a service facility. I’ve flown for 25 years, so I knew what I liked. I tried to build it in a way that I liked to be treated as a pilot."

Open seven days a week, NorthStar provides basic services to arriving pilots before they ever see the runway, he said.

"Since we’re an uncontrolled airport, it’s every pilot’s responsibility to radio in and tell us they’re going to land," he said. "We give them weather information and tell them if there are other airplanes in the vicinity. Then it’s up to the pilots to coordinate between themselves."

But whether the arriving plane is an ultralight or a jet, Wolters and his line service personnel make it their business to be on the runway to meet the pilot and passengers, he said.

"We’re here to greet them with flags and show ’em where to park," he said. "And if they need a hangar we’ll provide them with one."

As an agent for Dollar Rent-A-Car, NorthStar can also rent cars to arriving flyers, and it keeps rental vehicles at the airport at all times.

Summer is the busiest season for NorthStar, and many of its clients are members and guests of the nearby Stock Farm who arrive, often in private jets, for a day or two of golf. Such patrons like for their jets to spend the night out of the weather and gladly pay Wolters a daily hangar fee.

"For the big jets we literally roll out the red carpet, have a car waiting and take care of their bags," he said. "Then we take care of the pilots and fuel and hangar the plane."

Sometimes that means providing a place for the pilot to relax while his boss plays 18 holes of golf. In such cases, NorthStar’s pilot room offers vending machines, a high-speed Internet terminal and a full kitchen, and its lounge area features comfortable couches, a TV/VCR and scores of movies.

"We’ve tried to provide a comfortable place for the pilots," Wolters said. "If you only have six or eight hours, there’s not a lot you can do."

Refueling the planes is perhaps the biggest part of the business and is currently accomplished using one of four fuel trucks – two holding jet fuel and two containing 100-octane aviation fuel. Though it may seem like overkill, Wolters opted to have two trucks for each kind of engine in case one were to go down.

"Refueling is the most important thing we do," he said, "so we can’t afford a break-down. We just received permission from the commissioners for a self-service, credit-card fuel station."

NorthStar also employs a full-time mechanic, Herman Hill, who came on in spring and is qualified to work on both piston-type planes and jets. Hill previously owned his own aviation service facility in Concordia, Kan., but left the heartland to live in the Rocky Mountains.

"I always wanted to live in the mountains," Hill said, "so when Steve placed an ad for an airplane mechanic, I came on out."

Hill said he’s been around planes all his life and knows first-hand how important airports are to a community.

"People don’t realize that the airport is the doorway to the community," he said. "It’s not just for a few people to enjoy. It has big economic impacts to the whole town."

Wolters, of course, agrees, and perhaps that’s why flight instruction is a big part of his business. Though he’s been a pilot for 25 years, he’s not certified to teach flying. He leaves that task to Cliff Walters, who he said is a natural-born flight instructor with the patience of a saint.

"I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not a patient person," Wolters said. "Cliff is a people person, and he loves teaching people to fly."

And though the two men have a good-natured argument on the correct way to spell their last name, they form a good flight-instruction team, with Wolters providing the planes and Walters doing the teaching. NorthStar owns four airplanes – two Cessna 152 two-seaters typically used for instruction, and two Cessna 172 four-seaters often rented for scenic flights – and Walters has logged more than 10,000 hours flying and trained countless pilots over the last 40 years.

"Our most fortunate thing was to be able to team up with Cliff," Wolters said. "Flight instruction at this airport is growing by leaps and bounds, and we couldn’t do it without him."

On Tuesday, Walters had just returned from taking one of his students, Butch Smith, on his first cross-country flight across the Pintlers to Deer Lodge. He said NorthStar rates as one of the top aviation services in the U.S. as far as cleanliness and the upkeep of their planes.

"You won’t find a drop of oil on the floor in their shop," he said, "and their planes are always perfectly maintained."

Smith nodded in affirmation. "They always keep the planes waxed and bug free," he said.

A walk around NorthStar’s building confirms the accolades. Each room, from the lounge and kitchen to the training room and maintenance hangar, looks as though it’s been professionally cleaned. And the hallway in between is decorated with airplane nostalgia – mostly old airplane ads from magazines – all in an effort to make people more comfortable in his service station, Wolters said.

"It’s kind of neat," he said. "Some of the old pilots stop in and will stand for hours reading the ads."

Wolters believes the Ravalli County Airport is an asset to Hamilton and the Bitterroot Valley, he said, and because the health of the airport directly affects his business, he makes it a point to stay informed about future airport changes.

"I go to every airport meeting," he said. "My survival depends on the survival of the airport."

Owning his own aviation business is in many ways a dream come true, he said, because it brings back a bit of his childhood.

"I remember growing up as a kid and the airport was the highlight of the community," he said. "I think this community has kind of been deprived of that."

For that reason, he approves of recent changes at the airport, including the opening of the Hangar Cafe.

"Anything that brings people out here, I believe, is a good thing," he said. "We have a beautiful airport, and I’d like to see more people enjoy it."

Reporter Rod Daniel can be reached at 363-3300 or [email protected]