Saturday, October 26, 2013

Lakeport, Lake County, California: Business prepares Mooney planes for trip to Australia

 
Pictured above and below, Lake Aero Styling and Repair staff prepare two airplanes for an ocean trip to Australia.
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 Courtesy photos.


 Ramsey and the two Mooney aircraft are now on their way to Australia.








LAKEPORT, Calif. – How challenging is it to package up not one, but two airplanes for a long ocean voyage from Lakeport to Australia? 

 The staff at local business Lake Aero Styling and Repair (LASAR) recently found out.

After many hours of specialized work by the skilled staff at LASAR, the single engine airplanes were ready to be shipped to their new owners in Australia.

Paul Loewen, owner of LASAR, oversaw the entire project.

“One of the airplanes was here for a month-long retrofit and upgrade of its radios equipment and navigation screens,” said Loewen.

It was flown to Lake County from Portland, Ore., by local pilot Damon Trimble.

The second aircraft, a unique Porsche powered turbo-charged Mooney, began its journey in Wisconsin.

Both Mooney airplanes were partially disassembled and carefully loaded onto racks that were specially designed to support the two aircraft bodies, wings, and tails and to fit into the cargo container.

Hamish Ramsey, owner of a Mooney service center in Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia, spent three months in Lakeport managing the retrofit project and designing the special shipping racks.

“We continue to appreciate the excellent service by the creative, talented, and friendly folks at Lampson Field for our overseas aviation requirements,” Ramsey said.

Aircraft businesses at Lampson Field support our local economy by attracting a wide variety of aviation customers from both U.S. and international locations, including Europe, Asia, Africa, Canada, and South America.

“Virtually all of our business is from outside of Lake County,” reports Steve Culbertson, owner of a Lampson aircraft repair company.

Tom Wasson, owner of a general maintenance shop, agrees and points out that seven of the eight airplanes currently in his shop are from out of the county.

“Our local aircraft businesses have earned a reputation for excellence,” Loewen noted. “In addition to a large number of highly qualified technicians and employees at the Lampson businesses, there is enough business brought into Lake County to keep several local pilots busy providing delivery services from all corners of the world.”

Yankee Composites owner Rick Anderson added that his shop that specializes in the repair and maintenance of composite aircraft has almost all of its customers come from outside of Lake Count
y.

Source:   http://www.lakeconews.com

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