Professional Pilot, January 2019

SC Aviations 52000 sq ft state of the art maintenance hangar opened in 2016 and with the steady growth they are experiencing the company is already planning additional expansion PROFESSIONAL PILOT January 2019 35 Pres Nick Colombe joined SC Aviation in 2005 and still flies legs for the charter operation Dir of Ops Dan Avers began flying in high school and has been with the SC Aviation team for 11 years the Monroe headquarters The 140 was soon joined by a Cessna 195 expanding their passenger count from 2 to 5 including the pilot The 195 held the distinction of being the first all aluminum Cessna as well as the only post WWII Cessna powered by a radial engine While the 195 served them well the continued success of The Swiss Colony found executives traveling to Chicago Green Bay and even more remote locales so they moved up to their first twin engine airplane a Cessna 310 Five years later the 310 was traded for a Cessna 414 with even longer range pressurized cabin and increased seating Citation II acquired As the companys aircraft grew in size and capability they began to see additional uses including transporting VIPs to the headquarters bringing in spare parts and delivering the occasional mail order By the 1980s The Swiss Colony had begun to diversify their product lines which meant a larger network of locations for both production and administration To accommodate the expanded needs of moving their people from coast to coast they added their first jet powered airplane to the fleet in 1986 Once again they stuck with their favored brand and opted for a Cessna Citation II to complement the 414 they were still flying However with longer required landing distances the move to the Citation also necessitated a new home for The Swiss Colony flight department They made their way to the JVL Southern Wisconsin Regional Janesville WI 40 miles east of their original location in Monroe Over the next 6 years the first non Cessna plane was purchased a Sabreliner 40 which was later traded for a Sabreliner 60 Not long after the company had reduced their use of the aircraft and they were presented with a dilemma sell the planes or find a way to make some money from them They opted for the latter and began offsetting costs by offering the fleet for charter use To maximize the utilization of their aircraft management swapped their 2 current aircraft for a Hawker 700 and a King Air 200 both of which are more sought after in the charter world The immediate success of these decisions would open a new chapter in The Swiss Colony history The Swiss Colony flight dept becomes SC Aviation By 1999 the organization had realized that the move to chartering company owned aircraft was making a profit After 53 years as a corporate flight department they branched off on their own obtained a Part 135 certificate and officially began operating as SC Aviation in 2000 Currently in charge of this endeavor is President Nick Colombe Growing up in the Chicago suburbs Colombe was fortunate to attend a public high school that offered a 2 year aviation program which included a field trip with a flight in a Cessna 172 The teacher took us out to a small airport piled 3 students at a time in the plane and let each of us fly That was what hooked me on aviation Colombe recalls While completing his Aviation Flight Management degree at Lewis University he obtained his flight instructor rating and also joined the Civil Air Patrol In June of 2000 a month after graduation Colombe took his first pilot job with AirNet Systems delivering bank documents in Beechcraft Baron 58s Cessna 310s and Learjet 35s His time in the Lear 35 and the 3000 flight hours he accumulated in the next 3 years would help with the transition to his first corporate job at Pace American Trailers in DuPage IL After 2 years with Pace Colombe accepted a position with SC Aviation in December 2005 He was promoted to chief pilot in 2007 then to director of operations in 2015 and his current title in early 2018 When I obtained the chief pilot position we owned or managed 12 aircraft and employed 40 pilots Then the Recession hit Those were some tough years But we persevered and have been rebuilding since With our additional ventures weve positioned ourselves to help protect against future downturns he says