September 5, 2018, Washington, D.C. – Welsch Aviation is proud to announce and welcome Chris Baillargeon, as the company’s newest Director of Business Development.  Chris will be responsible for developing new clients, tracking aircraft market activity and providing value to analysis for current and future clients.

Chris brings over 11 years of Aviation industry experience, having originally started in aircraft management and charter sales, Chris decided in 2010 to make the switch to aircraft brokerage and acquisition.  His experience gives him a unique ability to understand aircraft from both an operational and value perspective. Chris graduated from Daniel Webster College in 2006 with a Bachelors Degree in Aviation Aircraft Traffic Management

Some insight on staying engaged from Welsch Aviation’s Director of Sales Dave Bausch.

As the newest member of the the Welsch Team, I am privileged to continue my passion of flying Gulfstream Aircraft as a contract pilot for Fortune 100 companies and all the while holding the position of Director of Sales. Currently qualified on both the G-650 and G-550 (they are superb aircraft), I can tell you first hand they are the ultimate in ultra long distance travel. Both aircraft deliver beyond advertised performance. The customers (Passengers) are looking for reliability and comfort and that’s what they get! On my recent G-550 trip the aircraft traveled west coast to east coast and, after a crew exchange, continued on deep into Southern Europe all without a single issue. These aircraft have the highest reliability rating in the industry.

Continuing to fly as a crew member keeps me operationally connected to the corporate aviation industry, up to date on a myriad of aircraft market related data, and the opportunity to observe directly what the customer is expecting and experiencing.

I invite perspective buyers an/or sellers to contact the Savannah Sales Team for any assistance to meet your aviation needs.

All the Best,

Dave Bausch
Director of Sales

On April 21st, Southwest Schools Board Member Ed Vesely served as copilot on a B-17 aircraft at the Gulf Coast Salute Airshow at Tyndall AFB in Panama City, Florida.

Mr. Vesely, Senior Sales Director at Welsch Aviation, is a seasoned pilot with 40 year’s flying experience. He is also a respected member of the Board of Directors at Southwest Schools and continuously provides valuable insight and guidance to our district.

Mr. Vesely is one of the few people that are lucky enough to fly the aircraft known as “The Flying Fortress”. Primarily used as a military plane in WWII and then as a civilian aircraft for several years after, there are currently only 12 of the 12,731 originally produced, flying today.

Of the five World War II Curtiss SB2-C Helldivers that still exist, only one is airworthy. Edward Vesely, SBA ’79, is one of only two pilots qualified to fly it.

Vesely, the senior director of sales for Welsch Aviation’s Houston office, is flying in air shows throughout the country, giving spectators the opportunity to see, hear, smell and touch a piece of history. While he calls it an honor, a privilege and a responsibility to fly the Helldiver, his background makes him uniquely suited for the task.

The son of a U.S Air Force mechanic, Vesely was 11 when his family moved from Ohio to Michigan, where his father took a job with the U.S Department of Defense assigned to the Warren Chrysler Tank Plant. Living one mile away from (then) Big Beaver Airport at 16 Mile and John R roads, Vesely would ride his bicycle to watch airplanes on the weekends. His “ramp rat” tenacity paid off when he stumbled upon a 1940 Piper J-3 Cub, abandoned and in disrepair, and set about restoring it back to flight in what he called the “ultimate father-son project.”

Now a resident of Texas, Vesely and his wife and fellow pilot, Carole, still fly the Cub for fun. “In addition, my wife and I use our Beech A-36 Bonanza for domestic travel and support for our corporate jet sales business,” he said. “When your vocation and avocation merge it can make for a satisfying and rewarding career and life.” That certainly seems the case for Vesely, who carved out a career in corporate aircraft sales with his bachelor of science in business management/economics and lifetime love of aviation.

Vesely started flying light WWII-type aircraft early in his flying career. He and his wife of 36 years met as flight instructors in Pontiac, Michigan, and moved to Houston in 1980, shortly after Vesely received his degree from Oakland University. From there, Mitsubishi Aircraft hired him as a sales/demonstration pilot, followed by the launch of his career as a jet broker for the sale and acquisition of corporate aircraft. During that period, he began volunteering with the Lone Star Flight Museum and its WWII flying collection. This led to the invitation to fly the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) West Texas Wing’s Helldiver in 2005.

A carrier-based bomber produced from 1943 to 1945 for the U.S. Navy, the Helldiver was not always loved by its crew. The “Big-Tailed Beast” was considered underpowered, more difficult to maneuver and, in the Battle of the Philippine Sea, 45 were lost because they ran out of fuel returning to their carriers. Yet 7,140 Helldivers were produced, and they were heralded for delivering bombs and depth charges with pinpoint accuracy. Helldiver squadrons contributed greatly toward winning the war in the Pacific.

Although he has flown many WWII-era warbirds, including the Grumman F6F Hellcat, Grumman TBM, P-51 Mustang, B-25 Mitchell and S2 Tracker, his favorite is the Helldiver.

“As far as the mechanical aspects of the airplane, it is a very enjoyable airplane to fly. Roll is very light, pitch is medium in pressure and the rudder is extremely heavy,” said Vesely, his direct voice ticking off the principal axes. “We don’t deploy dive brakes, as we have to respect the fact we are flying a one-of-a-kind airplane that is 70 years old.” The CAF does, however, allow opportunities for flight enthusiasts to take a historic flight in the Helldiver to experience the thrill of a lifetime facing backward in the gunner’s seat.

Vesely said that because of his Oakland University education, his satisfying career in corporate jet sales and extensive volunteer work, he has traveled to five continents and enjoyed associations with people at all levels of society.

“These experiences have helped me to recognize the importance of quality education which led me to such a vast array of opportunities,” he said.

Through his educational leadership as a board member of Southwest Schools, a local charter school in Houston, and involvement with the CAF in perpetuating living history, Vesely hopes to help the next generation understand the importance of education and the role that history serves. When young people can honor the lessons of “The Greatest Generation” and experience living history, perhaps they will better understand how to avoid errors of the past.

“History doesn’t come alive until you see it alive,” said Vesely. “That is why we fly these aircraft.”

Hunter Weiss, President & Partner, Welsch Aviation, shares his Business Aviation market observations

To gain from their vast industry experiences, AvBuyer interviewed Hunter Weiss, President & Partner of Welsch Aviation, Inc. for his thoughts about the current state of Business Aviation…

According to a Chinese proverb, “If you would know the road ahead, ask someone who has traveled it”. In the profession of brokering business aircraft, few practitioners have traveled more miles than the associates at Welsch Aviation. Founded over 67 years ago by James C. Welsch, Sr., a sales professional for venerable companies such as Aeronca and Stinson from the late 1920s and for Cessna immediately following World War II.

Welsch Aviation began its current brokerage business with a single office at LaGuardia Airport’s Marine Air Terminal in 1949. Before there were business jets—fully a decade before the Gulfstream G-I turboprop entered the corporate scene—Jim Welsch was brokering converted military and airline aircraft, such as Douglas C-47s, Consolidated Convairs and Lockheed Constellations to corporate America. US Steel purchased its first company aircraft, a modified Lockheed Lodestar, utilizing the services of Welsch Aviation in the early 1950s.

As a candidate for the US Presidency in 1960, John F. Kennedy was provided access to a Convair 240 that Jim Welsch brokered to his father, Joseph P. Kennedy.

Named after JFK’s daughter, the “Caroline” was the first aircraft to be used by a presidential candidate and continued to serve the Kennedy family until 1967.

As Welsch Aviation grew—its operation currently includes offices in Washington, DC, New York, Georgia and Texas—management transitioned to James Welsch, Jr. In 1987 K. Hunter Weiss joined the firm as an Associate, in 1996 became a Partner, and assumed the title of President in 2014.

Hunter, based out of the headquarters office in Washington, DC, is also a member of a venerable line of Business Aviation professionals. His father joined Welsch Aviation in the early 1980s following a number of years as a US Air Force fighter pilot and extensive experience with corporate aircraft manufacturers. Continuing his family’s commitment to aviation, Hunter devoted his career to the concept that business aircraft are essential tools for business development. Supporting Welsch Aviation clients, he practices an in-depth and straightforward approach to professional representation.

Others at Welsch are passionate practitioners of aviation. Robert Hart, Senior Director of Sales in Welsch Aviation’s Georgia office has enjoyed success in the sales arena for almost 40 years. Moreover, Senior Director of Sales Edward Vesely manages Welsch Aviation’s Texas Office as his day job, yet finds time to fly the only operative Curtiss SB2C-5 Helldiver in airshows for the Commemorative Air Force. The least tenured of Welsch’s brokers has 23 years of service with the firm.

Brokerage Only

Since its inception, Welsch Aviation has engaged solely in brokering a client’s aircraft. The firm neither buys nor holds inventory, focusing instead on securing exclusive contracts to be the client’s representative. No funds are exchanged until a transaction occurs; Welsch Aviation assumes the risk that its efforts on behalf of its client will result in a successful sale.

All aspects of the process are managed by Welsch’s team of experts. Among its four offices, Welsch handles between one and two dozen engagements simultaneously. The typical period for a sale to be consummated is about 180 days. Most of Welsch’s relationships are repeat business, and new clients typically are referred from its existing customer base. The firm is proud of its tradition for reliability, integrity and hands-on dealing with its clients.

Market Prospects?

Hunter Weiss is confident that Business Aviation will remain a vital aspect of a corporation’s transportation solution. “There is always going to be a need for business aircraft,” he told AvBuyer, recently. “The Scheduled Airlines do not serve many city pairs—in fact only one-fifth of the airports that entrepreneurs typically need to reach.

“After 67 years supporting the Business Aviation community, our firm has seen many cycles. The current cycle appears to be an overcorrection. We feel that the loss of residual value currently being experienced will shrink. The need for a business aircraft is real and growing.

Just consider the difficulty of servicing and growing a corporation’s market without the advantages that business aircraft offer. There are many companies that would not have been successful without the use of Business Aviation.

“Admittedly,” continued Hunter, “the brokerage business has become more complicated as we conduct searches and evaluations of every type of aircraft throughout the globe to find the exact make, model, avionics suite and accouterments for our clients. We deal with many experts, from accountants to tax specialists to aviation lawyers with experience in domestic and international transactions. Pre-purchase inspections that once required a day or two now consume several weeks. Business Aviation has matured, and our capabilities have grown to meet the challenges.

“In particular, Welsch faces the challenge of differentiating our firm from the dealer community. Being a broker is not the same as being a firm that sells either its own inventory and/or a client’s aircraft,” observed Hunter. “Being a pure broker is in fact the antithesis of the dealer-broker. We feel there is a conflict of interest when a dealer represents inventoried and represented aircraft, even if the firm has the best of intentions.

“We take our tag line—‘A higher plane since 1949’—very seriously,” he concluded.

A Tampa, Florida native, Kevin is a fourth year student at Georgia Tech where he studies Aerospace Engineering. He is an avid pilot with single engine land, sea, and instrument airplane ratings. He recently worked at the Honda Aircraft Company as an engineer in the acoustics and structural methods departments. Additionally, he spent a summer working as an A&P Mechanic apprentice at renown seaplane shop, Amphibians Plus, in Bartow, Florida. Kevin has a keen interest in private jet sales and will learn the ropes of the industry during his time at Welsch Aviation, focusing on client acquisition and marketing. Kevin joins our Herndon office near Washington D.C. where he is eager to explore the restaurants and coffee shops unique to the district.

Welsch Aviation recently launched a comprehensive rebranding campaign which featured:

• An redesign logo and brand image
• A new tagline: “A Higher Plane Since 1949,” which reinforces the company’s competitive positioning of being the premier aircraft broker since its founding
• A revamped website which reflects the firm’s new brand image