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Central Flying Service Still Aloft After 75 Years

6 min read

Born out of wartime-driven pursuits, Central Flying Service in Little Rock has since propelled itself as an aviation pioneer after 75 years in business, an anniversary the company celebrates this year.

The fixed-base operator’s founding mission as a flight school is still ingrained in its current philosophy. Even without training as a steady source of income (3 percent of the company’s total revenue in 2013), Central Flying has stayed true to its origin since co-founder Claud Holbert’s sons Richard “Dick” and Don Holbert took over in 1976. The company now offers training courses in partnership with Pulaski Technical College in Little Rock.

Dick Holbert, 71, is president while Don Holbert, 74, is chairman and CEO.

In 1939, the late Claud Holbert, along with partner Edward Garbacz, started the company when World War II was the predominant topic of discussion.

Central Flying’s sole purpose at the time was training pilots for the government through the Civilian Pilot Training Program, a project led by President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration. CPTP was administered through Little Rock Junior College (now the University of Arkansas at Little Rock). The CPTP became the War Training Service in 1942 and Central Flying operated as a War Pilot Training Center.

The company had more than 60 aircraft at the height of the war and 30 flight training instructors. Central Flying still offers a flight training facility for about 70-80 students annually, although the company no longer has a wartime contingent of instructors — just six full time and nine part time.

“It’s not the consensus of the industry to have flight training,” Dick Holbert said.

Central Flying’s fleet of aircraft has also decreased over the years, yet Arkansas’ oldest FBO has more than 550,000 SF of hangar space in 21 buildings on 77 acres, setting itself apart as one of the largest in the world.

In the Family

Claud Holbert’s flight history began with lying about his age to join the Arkansas Air National Guard at 16 in 1926. His two sons also found it hard to stay away from flight at an early age.

Dick Holbert recalls his eagerness as a teenager to obtain his pilot license as quickly as the law would allow. “You couldn’t be any younger than 17 to get a license,” he said. “At that time, I felt like the youngest pilot in the country, at least for a day.”

Both sons consider their father, a businessman with a drive for quality service and a willingness to admit faults, to be their greatest mentor.

“The influence was tremendous,” Don Holbert said. “I got the privilege of working with him side by side for 11 years.”

Claud Holbert retired as president of Central Flying in 1975 and became chairman of the board, a title he held until 1981. Holbert was senior pilot examiner in the U.S. before his death in March 1983 and spent more than 50,000 flight hours in the air, an achievement that few pilots have accomplished. At the age of 73, he was the oldest pilot examiner administering Federal Aviation Administration flight tests.

One moment in particular stands out for Dick Holbert: the time his father taught him the trick to stalls, an anxiety-inducing moment for at least one Holbert in the aircraft. Stalls, the result of insufficient airspeed, increase the angle of flight in a manner that could cause the aircraft to lose its lift.

Holbert said his father’s legs were casually crossed and his back propped against the side of the aircraft as his son attempted a maneuver to regain control of the aircraft. “He was as relaxed as you could imagine,” Holbert said. “I remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe you’re so calm.’”

One poignant take-away Holbert had about his father from the experience: “He was such a consummate instructor, whether I knew it at the time or not.”

Don Holbert also recalled a moment early in his flight training when, at the age of 14, he returned from military school for spring break and expressed interest in flying independently for the first time.

“The weather was sloppy and the last day of the vacation, the sun came out,” Don Holbert recalls. His next thought: “I want to go solo.” His father’s response: go ahead.

Claud, Dick and Don Holbert have each made their way into the Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame.

Although the brothers don’t fly anymore, they are active in the aviation market and have plans to stick with the company for quite some time, carrying on the family legacy. “I don’t have any plans to retire,” Don Holbert said. “When you’re doing something you like to do, you stick with it.”

Now in its third generation, the family business has Claud Holbert’s grandchildren helming key aspects: Dick’s children Valerie Holbert Wayne, director of design and marketing, and Taylor Holbert, director of line service and operations; and Don’s son Steve Holbert, IT manager. Steve’s wife, Susan, is Central Flying’s CFO.

Despite its family history, Don Holbert admits the fourth generation, still in its youth, has been worrying him. “I just don’t see the interest,” he said.

The Holbert family boasts firsts in Arkansas with Central Flying, primarily introducing the first turbo prop charter, jet charter, turbine-powered helicopter, turbine maintenance structure and first jet sale into the state.

Central Flying, a Beechcraft dealer, brought the first private commercial multi-engine air service to Arkansas when it acquired a Ford Tri Motor in 1940.

The company also operated Central Airport, an auxiliary airport in North Little Rock used from 1940 to 1956.

Central Flying has had its share of firsts and successes, but Dick Holbert isn’t afraid to admit where the company is lacking. He shares his father’s belief that “We don’t have it wrapped up. Never have.”

Central Flying has seen a shift in its primary source of revenue: fuel and line service.

Fuel and line service have provided substantial revenue each year for Central Flying, while flight training has in recent history accounted for less than 5 percent of annual revenue. The company has experienced increasing revenue potential from maintenance operations such as custom paint, nondestructive testing and sheet metal welding.

In 2013, the maintenance division of the company accounted for almost 35 percent of revenue while jet fuel service revenue, also about 35 percent of the business, saw a decline. Aviation Business Journal reported that Central Flying Service’s 2013 revenue was about $30 million, and the company says revenue is on track for a 10 percent increase this year after being flat since 2008.

Holbert attributes growth in maintenance rather than the fuel business to increased fuel efficiency in jet engines and aircraft.

Central Flying’s maintenance scope is offering 123,000 SF of maintenance hangar space for Hawker, Citation and Beech Premier jets.

Still, Central Flying’s fuel services are nothing to scoff at. The company can store 80,000 gallons of jet fuel and 30,000 gallons of low-lead aviation gas.

Although Central Flying Service was weakened financially by the Great Recession, going from 240 employees in 2008 to 160 in 2009 and 165 today, Don Holbert sees a bright spot in maintenance. The company hopes to hire eight more employees by the end of the year — five in line services, two in maintenance and one in avionics.

In its 75 years, Central Flying has sustained itself in the Little Rock aviation market largely unfazed by many of the proposed projects that never came to fruition or battles it has faced. The entry of Supermarine, another FBO, adjacent to Central Flying has created a bit of competition for the long-standing company, although Dick and Don Holbert believe competition will keep the company from being complacent. Supermarine opened as an FBO in 2007 as a result of the purchase of the site by Stephens family interests from Omni Air of Tulsa in 2005.

Another FBO in Little Rock, to be led by Truman Arnold’s TACAir of Texarkana, Texas, was proposed in 2004 but the development never became a reality.

In 2002, Central Flying service added nine aircraft hangars and an executive terminal, as well as maintenance and paint facilities when it acquired Midcoast Aviation, owned by Sabreliner Corp. of St. Louis.

Don Holbert said he hopes that in the years to come Central Flying will continue to provide quality service and will always look for ways to improve, with his father’s vision of offering flying lessons always the central component of operations. One thing is certain: Claud Holbert’s legacy is present in all the family members’ minds and decisions as they carry on the family business from its small beginnings to its broadening reach.

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