Business View Magazine November-December 2018

98 99 KACHEMAK BAY FLYING SERVICE Kachemak Bay Flying Service (KBFS), wholly owned subsidiary of System Studies and Simulation, Inc. ( S 3 ), is located at the Temple Draughon Miller Regional Airport, offering on demand transport, pilot training, and aircraft maintenance services to the US Government and the general aviation community. S 3 gained its first Texas contract at Ft. Hood in December 2000 and has been a fixture in Central Texas ever since. The centerpiece of S 3 ’s aviation services in Texas is KBFS, which operated as a Part 135 Fixed Wing Air Carrier at Kachemak Bay, Alaska, until acquired by S 3 CEO Jan Smith in 2007. In referring to Kachemak Bay Flying Service, we like to say that it was “Born in Alaska but built for Texas.” Geographically, Kachemak Bay is part of the Cook Inlet along the southwest side of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, a limited access area that is home to the Kachemak Bay State Park. Ms. Smith purchased the FAA Part 135 Certificate from Kachemak Air Service (owned by legendary aviator Bill de Creeft) in 2007 and moved the operation to the “lower 48.” Beginning in 1967, Mr. de Creeft’s operation provided seaplane tours over the glaciers using Beavers, Otters, and a 1929 Travel Air. Today, Kachemak Air Service operates an Aviation theme Lakeside Cabin and resort accommodations for tourists in Homer, AK. S 3 feels honored to carry on this name which comes from an Aleut word meaning “Smokey Bay”, which many believe referred to the smoldering coal seams in the bay. The name has an impressive history and following in aviation. Our pilots have encountered hunters and fishermen from Miami, FL to Seattle, WA who have visited the park and flown with Kachemak Air. S 3 is resourcing KBFS to build a new chapter in this history at one of the finest regional airports in the southwestern United States. S 3 and Kachemak Bay Flying Service salute the city of Temple, TX and the outstanding work the city has accomplished in modernizing the runways, flight operations, and fixed base support at Draughon-Miller. Temple always extends its appreciation and support to the soldiers at nearby Fort Hood. In way of appreciation to the city, its airport management team, and most of all to our Veterans, Kachemak Bay Flying Service will host its second “Honoring Veter- ans Fly-in” at the Temple Airport on Sunday, November 11, 2018. The Fly-In is our way of continuing what Kachemak Air Service institutionalized in Alaska – professional aviation services where no mission is too tough, where our customers are always right, and where our neighbors are always appreciated. THE DRAUGHON-MILLER CENTRAL TEXAS REGIONAL AIRPORT ness district. That airport dates back to 1937 and was built by the Works Progress Administration. It was shut down, and the city took over the former airbase and renamed it Draughon-Miller, in honor of two Temple flyers who had died in World War II. The city used the former municipal airport, first as a landfill, and later as an industrial park.” Owned by the City of Temple, the Airport has 14 employees, and according to Bratton, is almost entirely self-sufficient. “A large Department of De- fense contractor recently ceased operations.We were left with a couple of very large hangar com- plexes that are now vacant and represent consid- erable capital overhead. On the other hand, these are very nice industrial aviation facilities and we’re optimistic that we’re going to be able to find an aviation-related manufacturing or rework firm to come in and lease them.We view them as capacity for future growth and expect them to bring new jobs and citizens to our community.” Bratton says that the air traffic at Draughon-Miller is “a pretty healthy mix.We’ve got strong corporate traffic and we’re located very close to Fort Hood, which is a major military base,” he adds. “They generate a lot of helicopter traffic, which we see here both for training and refueling. Our pilot training is very strong. The airlines are very concerned about the looming shortage of pilots, so flight training is critical in supporting that industry, and, of course, it trickles