What began as a joke between two friends has turned out not only to be the business venture of a lifetime, but also one that will positively affect the aviation community in middle Tennessee and beyond for many years to come. “It started out as a search for an airplane for Robert Fields,” explains Erick Larson, one of three new owners of Smyrna Air Center. “We went to the Smyrna Air Center looking for a King Air 90, and as I was negotiating the price, the owner of the FBO said off-handedly, ‘While you’re at it, why don’t you just buy the whole FBO?’ I told Bob of this conversation over lunch, and it didn’t go anywhere immediately, but three days later, he came back to me and said, ‘Tell me again why we don’t want to own an FBO?’” After 10 months of negotiations, Larson, in addition to Fields, owner of R&B Transport, and Corey Gillard, owner of Precision Aviation, Inc., are now the proud new owners of Smyrna Air Center based at Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport (MQY) in Smyrna, Tennessee. The new owners are keeping step with the solid reputation that Smyrna Air Center has maintained since its founding 26 years ago.
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A one-stop aviation support center, Smyrna Air Center is perfect for both corporate and general aviation due to its modern facilities, top notch services, and proximity to downtown Nashville. “From the corporate pilot to the GA flier, if you come to Nashville, Smyrna Airport is by far the easiest airport to fly into and navigate the runways and taxiways; not to mention the higher level of services you receive when you get here,” says Gillard, a pilot with multiple ratings including commercial and multi-instrument who routinely flies into MQY.
Flying into MQY and the Smyrna Air Center is enjoyable for private pilots, businessmen and corporate pilots alike. Though MQY is a large airport with two large asphalt runways (8,037 feet and 5,546 feet) that feature an ILS approach and an operating control tower, it still maintains a small-town feel. Unlike Nashville International Airport’s congested Class C Airspace, long taxi times, and expensive fuel and ramp fees, pilots who fly into Smyrna Air Center enjoy no ramp fees, competitively priced Texaco branded fuel, 54 T-hangars for rent, a large 38,000-square-foot common hangar that is heated and air conditioned, conference rooms, wireless Internet, waiting rooms, 2,500 square feet of office space, a flight training/aircraft rental facility, and aircraft maintenance. “We’ve recently added a red carpet service, and we provide a limousine that pulls right up to the airplane and whisks the business traveler to their meeting in downtown Nashville,” adds Larson. Larson, a private pilot with an instrument rating, oversees the FBO’s many services.
In addition to corporate and GA pilots, Smyrna Air Center accommodates numerous freight operations and Executive Air Express, a charter service that is based in one of the FBO’s corporate hangars. While Larson tends to the service side of the FBO and Fields serves as president, Gillard heads the maintenance and avionics side of the business. “I run the maintenance operations of Precision Aviation and its two locations in the nearby towns of Shelbyville and McMinnville. We’ve recently expanded the business to include Smyrna Air Center where we run a full-service maintenance and avionics shop,” says Gillard. |
