Stevensville airport ‘structural’ in national general aviation

Sep 01, 2023

August 15, 2023 by Editor Leave a Comment

by John Dowd

When hearing the buzzing sound of a plane engine overhead, it is easy to feel disconnected from the person flying and the airport the craft flew from. However, according to Craig Thomas, the Stevensville Municipal Airport is extremely important to the community. Not only does it provide numerous jobs, but the kinds of work many of the businesses located there do are vastly important to general aviation as a whole.

Thomas has been there since 1978, and has been the airport board chairman since 2016. That same year, the airport was awarded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for runway excellency, after all the work they were doing to improve the site for pilots and other users. The FAA only recognizes about four airports per year in the entire country, so Thomas and others at the airport are extremely proud.

Also that same year, a study was done showing the economic impact of the airport on the Stevensville area. The study showed the airport was second only to NorthWestern Energy in the tax money it created, and that it created dozens of jobs.

The airport receives no money from the town, or from the county, meaning all funds used to repair, update and maintain the airport come from the people that love and use the airport, through fundraising, applying for grants and thrifty use of the space. The money the impact study referred to comes from the several unique and internationally important aviation industries housed within the little airport.

One of these businesses is Aircraft Structural Repair Inc. Dustin Wood, owner of the company, along with his employee and good friend Richard Wissenbach, work on all kinds of civil aviation helicopters and aircraft. Together, they have been working for nearly 13 years.

Their job keeps them busy, with a backed up list of projects that could keep them busy for months. Currently, there are only a few places in the country that do what they do, and they take on jobs from all over the nation and all over the world.

They recover wrecked aircraft, sheet metal work, structural repair and much more. From start to finish, they repair the parts, engine, repaint and reset all the controls and instruments. The two love what they do, and believe, as Wissenbach put it, “There’s a lot of satisfaction taking something most people would give up on and see past all that’s wrong to what it can become again.” Wood echoed that sentiment, saying, “It’s pretty rewarding to see the things fly when you’re done, after you got it ripped to shreds.”

In fact, many of the projects they receive are crafts so far past what most places can repair that the transformation can be incredible. And, according to Thomas, “People’s lives depend on what they do.”

Many of the things they install are monumentally important for the safety of pilots, passengers, and the people on the ground. The “Bart Switch” is one such item. Named after a friend of Wood’s that passed away from a helicopter crash, the switch helps prevent the accident that took the man’s life. The wreck stemmed from a known issue where one of four bolts that holds the tail section onto the body of the helicopter shears. That, or connections within the joint crack from the immense pressure created by the counter motion made by the tail that prevents the helicopter from spinning.

The problem is unique to the Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey) helicopter and can happen without warning. The switch gives that needed warning, and is installed in between the sections. When tripped by being extended past a certain threshold, it tells the operator something is very wrong. A light is illuminated in the cabin exclaiming, “TAILBOOM,” which signals the pilot needs to land very soon.

The issue has been around for many years. However, not much has been done to permanently address the problem. This is due, according to Wood and Wissenbach, to the expensive and bureaucratic process to get anything changed in the aircraft world. Wood and others at the friend’s memorial service developed the switch jointly and Wood started installing the switch “off-books” on many aircraft flown by loggers, firefighters and private pilots. The switch was not legally approved to install. However, as Wood explained, the switch saved so many lives that the FAA, instead of fining him or pressing charges, just pushed him to go through the process to get it approved to install. Though it is not mandated for Huey pilots to install the switch, it has saved many lives, especially those who use the helicopters every day for logging operations, fire suppression and demonstration. Aircraft Structural Repair, Inc. has received piles of thank-you-letters, talking about how their lives were saved due to the switches.

Costing only about $6,000-$7,000 to install, it seems like a small price to pay, but Wissenbach said the failure to get them installed can sometimes be chalked up to stubborn pilots. However, he also said, once that tail boom goes, it goes within seconds and is always catastrophic and deadly to everyone inside the craft, and anyone caught below.

Wood was in the Marines and started his aircraft career doing work on Grumman A-6 Intruders. There he mainly did sheet metal work, then worked his way up. He eventually found himself working for Garlick Helicopters, out of Hamilton, and after that worked field maintenance for helicopters on logging and firefighting operations. He loved everything about helicopters and has been working on them ever since.

Wissenbach started his career working with planes in the B-1B program as a structural mechanic for Rockwell International, in Palmdale, California. He originally went to school at the Helena Vocational Technical Center, and the call of the mountains and home brought him back.

Wood hired Wissenbach in early 2011, and as Wissenbach explained, “It’s been an incredible experience, breathing life back into airplanes.” Wissenbach originally met Wood while he was working for another local company that rebuilt props and worked on Cessna airplanes. He explained that it was incredible to see the projects Wood would work on, and how fast the craft could be brought back to life.

Now, working together, there is a lot of crossover. Both men are licensed airframe and power-plant mechanics, and Wissenbach has an inspection authorization for the major repair, major alterations and limited annual inspections they often need to do with the aircraft they work on.

Wood started the company in 2004, and brings with him the helicopter expertise, and Wissenbach specializes in bush-type planes. Wissenbach explained, “there’s just nothing like these,” when talking about his love for bush planes. Much of his work is done on Cessnas, which he says are incredible airplanes. They can fly in rough weather well, while also being extremely light, compared to other aircraft, and they can carry nearly their own weight.

Wissenbach also has his commercial pilot’s license and is a certified flight instructor. He teaches backcountry flying and both men are very involved in the Stevensville Airport. The two men, and their company, are only one of several similar companies housed at the Stevensville Municipal Airport that are directly involved with general aviation across the nation.

More information on Aircraft Structural Repair, Inc. can be found by visiting www.acsr.net.

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