WardHolbrook Posted November 29, 2015 Report Posted November 29, 2015 Just heard the news that Southwest Texas Aviation has been sold to a new owner. The new owners are JD and Laura Casteel. They're good people and can use the support of the Mooney community. 7 Quote
carusoam Posted November 29, 2015 Report Posted November 29, 2015 Sounds like good news, Ward. Thanks for bringing the update. Best regards, -a- Quote
Parker_Woodruff Posted November 29, 2015 Report Posted November 29, 2015 JD is a good friend and business associate of mine. I've mostly been biting my tongue till this deal finally went into place. Texas now has another great MSC. JD and his wife are both A&Ps and I'm certain will support the Mooney fleet very well. Congrats, JD and Laura!! 3 Quote
Mcstealth Posted November 29, 2015 Report Posted November 29, 2015 A thumbs up from Parker is a good thing. Quote
carusoam Posted November 29, 2015 Report Posted November 29, 2015 That just made the good news into great news! best regards, -a- Quote
Andy95W Posted November 29, 2015 Report Posted November 29, 2015 I'm glad Russell's legacy and contribution to Mooneys will continue, and is in good hands. Big shoes to fill. Quote
gsxrpilot Posted November 29, 2015 Report Posted November 29, 2015 I just went by the shop and met JD and Laura. I think I'll be very happy to support their business going forward. I've booked my C in for an oil change on day one... which might be a month or so. They've got a lot of work to do before opening for business. Both seem to be great people and will be welcomed into the local Mooney community. Rumor has it that Laura flew a Pipistrel motor glider to Oshkosh and back a couple of years ago! 2 Quote
Andy95W Posted November 30, 2015 Report Posted November 30, 2015 Are they going to re-start production on Russell's 201 windshield mod? Or 201 instrument panel? Quote
Chocks Posted November 30, 2015 Report Posted November 30, 2015 Apparently it's not needed, but I'll put my additional recommendation as well. I've known JD for several years now, consider him a personal friend, and had the pleasure of meeting his kickass wife today as well. They are both honest and ready to work! I know they're going to get slammed very quickly with all you guys chomping at the bit for some Mooney work! N1395W as far as I know he has the STC's for some mods - not sure which ones - if any, he'll be implementing. I would follow up with him in a few weeks once they get all setup and see what the status is. My understanding is they will be continuing Russel's Mods. 5 Quote
Parker_Woodruff Posted December 2, 2015 Report Posted December 2, 2015 http://www.swta.net/ Short announcement is up on the website. 1 Quote
Bob_Belville Posted December 3, 2015 Report Posted December 3, 2015 I notice that they offer bladders manufactured by Aero Tech Service - Los Angeles. I did not pull up O&N but appears they're the same. The only Mooney bladders I recall being mentioned on MS is O&N. ? Quote
N601RX Posted December 3, 2015 Report Posted December 3, 2015 I think they are the company that manufactures them for O&N. 1 Quote
Bob_Belville Posted December 3, 2015 Report Posted December 3, 2015 13 minutes ago, N601RX said: I think they are the company that manufactures them for O&N. It would make sense that West Coast planes might prefer TX to PA. Quote
garytex Posted December 3, 2015 Report Posted December 3, 2015 Before he died Russell told me that his STC's were for a fiberglass resin that was no longer manufactured. And the FAA had indicated to him that they would want to go through the entire process again to use a different resin. Start over and he wasn't willing to do so. I have a full boat of the mods and I don't know if that's the reason my plane is fast but it's fast, 155 kt At 75% power and 7500 feet measured by averaged four way GPS ( it's an M 20 F) I'm happy to have another good movie service center close at hand this is good news. 1 Quote
DaV8or Posted December 3, 2015 Report Posted December 3, 2015 11 hours ago, garytex said: Before he died Russell told me that his STC's were for a fiberglass resin that was no longer manufactured. And the FAA had indicated to him that they would want to go through the entire process again to use a different resin. Start over and he wasn't willing to do so. I have a full boat of the mods and I don't know if that's the reason my plane is fast but it's fast, 155 kt At 75% power and 7500 feet measured by averaged four way GPS ( it's an M 20 F) I'm happy to have another good movie service center close at hand this is good news. I have many of Russell's mods too. Primary being the "201 Style" cowl. This is a pretty good mod. It's part way between what Sabermech is doing and a total factory 201 cowl conversion. I keep thinking of doing the factory 201 cowl conversion and I wonder if the SWTA STCs will be transferable in the future. If I went with a real 201 cowl, I'd like to sell my SWTA cowl, but if the STC is not transferable... that would suck. Quote
gsxrpilot Posted January 8, 2016 Report Posted January 8, 2016 I was officially their first customer on 1/4/16. JD and Laura did an oil change on my C. Great folks to work with. 3 Quote
garytex Posted January 9, 2016 Report Posted January 9, 2016 Just gossip, but I heard that airport management is giving them some trouble about their hangar space. Hope it isn't true. Quote
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