dodson aircraft

Dodson Aircraft - Beautiful blue skies greeted us on Monday morning as we headed south from Olathe to Rantoul, Kansas. Just south of town is Dodson International Parts, a company that buys and sells used aircraft and parts. It is a fascinating place with many types of aircraft in their inventory. We also saw US registered aircraft with registries around the world. As you enter the facilities, you can't help but notice the Lockheed Jetstar mounted above the ground in front of the offices.

From the parking lot, you look north at the fleet of airplanes and parts from single-engine giants like the Cessna, Piper, and Beechcraft to parts of aircraft like the 737 and DC-9. Even modern types like ATR. -42, Dornier Do-328 Jet and Embraer ERJ190 can be found. Biz jets abound, with various models of the Gulfstream series, Bombardier Global Express and Lockheed Jetstar, as well as smaller types such as Lears, Falcons, Beech 400s and some Raytheon Premiers. Even helicopters are counted in the inventory with the US. Coast Guard HU-25s (Specialized Falcon 20) represent retired military aircraft types. The variety of types was amazing and fascinating, making for a difficult aircraft ID quiz as we walked through the warehouses.

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Our visit to Dodson led to a visit across the road to a private airport with a Lockheed Lodestar, three Douglas C-54 (DC-4), a Conveyor C-131 and a Douglas DC-3. Two of the three C-54s still have drop doors from their firefighting days. The C-131 has faded markings from its days with the Montana Air National Guard, and the DC-3 has no outside markings. A very interesting place to visit.

Aircraft Photo Of N308sf

AirExperience would like to thank Danielle Dodson for her time and energy. The carcasses of old commercial jets lie at Kansas-based Dodson International Aircraft Parts. Because any possible value has been removed, fuselages are now less expensive to dismantle. (Photo: Barry Ambrose)

With the FAA mandating ADS-B equipment in early 2020, there is debate within the industry about whether this additional cost will lead to a large retirement of older commercial aircraft, whose value and utility decline, and will not justify the cost of the upgrade. . Some believe that equipment costs will drop so much over time that many of those owners will make the move to upgrade their aircraft, which are still airworthy despite their age.

Indeed, the longevity shown by most commercial aircraft surprises many in the industry. "They are living longer than we expected," industry analyst Roland Vincent told AIN. "We've updated what's called our survival curve for the industry, which means how long an airplane will stay in service. After about 50 years the curve goes to zero, which is unheard of."

However, in the back of every owner's mind, one day their aircraft will take its final flight, and for many, that final destination will be the scrapping of an aircraft.

Douglas Dc 3

Commercial planes fly longer than expected—up to 50 years—but eventually the cost to upgrade is too high, and planes like this one at White Industries in Missouri are moving on to the next phase of their lives: supplying parts to the current fleet. (Photo: Barry Ambrose)

There are currently four major general aviation salvage yards in the United States: Alliance Air Parts, White Industries, MTW Aerospace, and Dodson International Aircraft Parts (see sidebar). It's a tight-knit industry where everyone knows or in some cases is related to everyone else.

Terry White, owner of Missouri-based White Industries, is considered by many to be the industry's elder statesman. At age 80, he has been in the aircraft salvage business since the mid-1960s, and before that established one of the largest foreign auto parts salvage yards. Many of the executives at other aircraft parts recovery companies, including Harry S. of Bates City. His company passed through Truman Regional Airport (which the company owned). He estimates that his company has acquired about 2,800 aircraft, including 1,000 jets and turboprops.

He pointed out that the industry has changed over the past four decades. "Most of what we buy now is an intact aircraft that we tear down for parts," White told AIN. He said most jets and turboprops find their way into his facilities because of depreciation. "Two stages of the decline were the ongoing cost of engine overhaul, and secondly, to a lesser extent, fuel costs in inefficient engine-type aircraft."

The Aero Experience: The Aero Experience Mid West Tour 2016: Dodson International Parts In Rantoul, Ks

For example, CRS Jet Spares vice president of sales and development Jack Calorus cited the Challenger 601. "A top flying example, you can get $2 million for it, which is generous," he told AIN. "Now you bring it in for maintenance, and each engine costs you $750,000, so now you have $1.5 million. Some will pay it, others will take it and take it apart or sell it to someone else. Something else is out with it."

In a recent month, White's company delivered a pair of Citation 500s, a Hawker 400B and a Westwind 1124. "When they fly, the first thing we do is park them on this property and our mechanics go. Start taking the avionics out so we can put them in inventory. Then we remove the engines," White said. "The aircraft remains essentially intact and if anyone wants a rudder from the aircraft we will take it."

Holding 178 acres, White created his own skeleton, as most of the planes he owned still remain on the property. "They're still here because we have the space to do it, and it's more expensive per man-hour to hit a pile and sell it for scrap aluminum."

In fact, the fuselages of those aircraft, painstakingly assembled and tested, are surprisingly cheap in terms of salvage. "We have a local dump man," said M.J. "Butch" Holtgreave, CEO of Alliance Air Parts. "He pays us very little, eight to 10 cents a pound."

Aircraft Zs Psg (cessna S550 Citation Iis C/n S550 0112) Photo By Ray Barber (photo Id: Ac1459374)

Holtgreave spent more than two decades under White's tutelage before joining Dodson, rising to the company's president, and then striking out on his own to found Alliance in Oklahoma. From a 50,000 square foot, purpose-built warehouse, he takes a different approach to the industry, specializing only in turboprops and jets. The company maintains a hangar at Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City, where they receive 95 percent of the aircraft they acquire. There, the wings and engines are removed and trucked along with the fuselage to the company's headquarters, where complete disassembly takes place.

For a larger aircraft like the Hawker 1000 or Challenger, the process can take anywhere from three days to weeks. "We keep all the removable parts, control surfaces, landing gear, wheels, brakes, radios, engines, valve actuators, everything you can unlock," noted Holtgreave, who has dismantled more than 200 turbine planes in the past decade. Although the company does not normally stock windows, it will stock heated windshields if they are in good condition. For the wings, the Alliance keeps several pairs in stock and will rate them with the newly acquired set while retaining the best examples. Many fuselages from various late model aircraft are also preserved in the rare case that a customer wishes to purchase a complete interior.

Typically, shipyards such as Alliance Air Parts of Oklahoma acquire intact aircraft and disassemble them for parts such as control surfaces, landing gear, radios and engines. The fuselage ends up as scrap metal.

Once everything of value has been removed, the metal scraper is called. "Airplanes are made of stronger aluminum than beer cans," Holtgreave said. "It's an aluminum alloy, not straight aluminum, and it doesn't have much value." Any rivets, other fasteners, or component on the fuselage are classified as mixed metal and require further steps to refine the base aluminum.

Aircraft N2688z (1971 Boeing 727 44c C/n 20476) Photo By Ray Barber (photo Id: Ac1237368)

Like White, almost all aircraft owned by Alliance are currently airworthy, but there are exceptions for those that have suffered minor accidents or hail damage. Holtgreave's recent purchases include a Learjet 60, which suffered an engine failure when a technician left a metal nut on the intake before it started.

CRS Jet Spares, which maintains a $50- to $60-million inventory focused on legacy out-of-production and out-of-warranty aircraft, was one of the leaders in the rotary parts business, and the Florida-based company recently moved more into the aircraft acquisition and dismantling business. "Financially, it was a lot easier back in the day when it cost a few hundred thousand dollars to take apart an airplane.

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