Avionics News August 2013 - 30

Tyler Gilmore, avionics manager, works on an EFIS-40 system at a
Capital Avionics CA-5000 universal test bench.

AHR Aviation in San Antonio, Texas, has a strong presence in Mexico.

MEASURED GROWTH AND AEA MEMBERSHIP

attends a number of trade shows south of the border, and
the shop is contemplating the Mexican equivalent of FAA
repair station certification.
AHR’s contract work expired with the companies that
offered it, but its expertise with the Fairchild Metro 23
continues on five continents. “We build and test everything here and then install it at their facility.” An AEA
member since 1984, “Pat and Dorothy instilled consistent involvement with this phenomenal group,” Potyk
said. “Avionics worldwide is a small group, and the AEA
brings it all together with a wealth of knowledge, international conventions and training courses like the STC
course I recently attended.”

Continued from page 29

test benches, he developed the CA-2100 in December
1992, and started selling them. With the appropriate
modules, it tested everything from autopilots and nav/
comms to instruments and GPS. Technology developed
its descendents in two directions, a small unit driven by
a laptop computer and the big CA-5000, a full automatic
testing equipment bench.
“I keep my business in five baskets,” Ingle said. Test
equipment has a worldwide reach, and CA customizes the
test procedures and also provides training for technicians
online. Component repairs and avionics installations, usually larger projects, are a nice mix that makes for a steady
stream of business. “You cannot afford to opt out of AEA
membership,” said Ingles, who’s been a member since
1982. “One must be a member not only for the programs
it provides, but for what you learn from networking with
other attendees at the meetings.”
AHR Aviation – San Antonio, Texas
With Mooney Aircraft, Fairchild/Swearingen and the
Dee Howard Company as potential sources of contract
installation and repair work in 1984, Pat and Dorothy Ahr
knew San Antonio was the place to start their avionics
shop. They earned a repair station certification the following year and then expanded their business to sales,
parts, service and installations, according to Bryan Potyk,
general manager, who joined the company in 1996. AHR
Aviation added aircraft maintenance in the 1990s and
prospered as a Cessna service center before retiring and
selling the business in 2008.
Given its location, “we’ve always had a strong presence in Mexico,” said Potyk, who said that depending
on the year, 40 to 70 percent of its customers are from
Central and South America, responsible for 10 percent
of the company business. To sustain this business, Potyk
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august

2013

Fieldtech Avionics & Instruments –
Fort Worth, Texas
When Kevin Melms and Joe Perkendall established
their small repair and install shop in 1975, they did not
plan on Fieldtech Avionics & Instruments becoming a
worldwide enterprise, said David Mills, who became a
partner in 1986. One thing led to the next, and throughout
the years the company established a sales office in Singapore, a Part 145 repair station in Manila, Philippines, and
a division dedicated to government and military work.
It started with over-the-counter sales, which the company built on by “traveling the world to call on customers and develop new relationships,” Mills said. Those
customers not only bought avionics, they sent them for
repairs, which led to test equipment, according to Mills.
It started with a radar altimeter test set that used tiny
crystallized delay devices instead of a large delay line.
Developed for internal use, demand for them by government, avionics original equipment manufacturers and the
industry led to a new line of business.
Work for the U.S. government and military represents
20 to 25 percent of the company’s business, Mills said,
and many of the company’s 70 employees are veterans.
Continued on page 32

Avionics News August 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News August 2013