The former owner of Lakeshore Aviation and producer of the Manitowoc Airshow for years, would like to bring some new business to the local airport.
Curt Drumm, who has residency in both Manitowoc and northern Wisconsin, owns a pair of hangars and still has aircraft based here.
Drumm tells Seehafer News that he and his business partner purchased one of those hangars from the late Don Gruett, who was the President of Oil-Rite and they’ve since restored the hangar.
“We’re looking to try to develop the business aircraft market with turboprops and jets,” he explained. “The hangar we have here is 11,500 square feet, the main door facing the runway is large enough for most mid-size jets and you can house a couple of ‘em in here. So, we’re looking at either a corporate operator, a charter operator, partnerships, maintenance, aircraft restoration.”
We asked him if the timing was right for this type of venture.
“There’s a lot of corporate activity already coming in and out of town,” he responded. “Unfortunately there’s nothing based here, so every time an aircraft comes in to pick somebody up they’ve got to pay to have that plane come empty from somewhere else. So our goal is try to get some based activity at the airport, which will in turn, be able to serve those corporate customers better and at a lower cost.
Drumm says the potential also exists for aviation manufacturing on airport property, adding “it’s a unique site with a lot of possibilities for the Manitowoc area.”
Curt spoke to us on Saturday during the local E.A.A. chapter Fly-in, pancake breakfast and Swap Meet at the county airport.
