AIRPORT BUSINESSES
Wings Field is home to 10 aviation-related businesses. These firms employ more than 50 full- and part-time workers. They include the partnership that owns Wings Field, the company that operates the field, a flight school, an aircraft maintenance shop, a private membership eating club, two medical evacuation services, two air charter services, and one aviation insurance operation. Click on the links below to obtain information about each of the businesses.WINGS FIELD PRESERVATION ASSOCIATIONS, LP
Read about the partnership that owns Wings Field.MONTGOMERY COUNTY AVIATION
Learn about the company that operates Wings Field.MONTGOMERY COUNTY FLIGHT ACADEMY
This is one of the busiest flight schools in the region.MONTGOMERY COUNTY AVIATION MAINTENANCE SHOP
Some of the area’s best aviation mechanics work here.PHILADELPHIA AVIATION COUNTRY CLUB
Read about the fine food and refreshments at this famed membership club.PENNSTAR FLIGHT
Learn about the University of Pennsylvania Health System’s helicopter medevac service.ANGEL FLIGHT EAST
Transports medically needy patients at no cost on private aircraft.BLUE BELL AIR LLC
Provides air charter services and fractional aircraft ownership opportunities from Wings.MIDLANTIC JET AVIATION INC.
Provides air charter services.AVIATION INSURANCE UNLIMITED
Many aircraft owners, pilots, and airports obtain their insurance here.Wings Field Preservation Associates, LP
The airport is owned by Wings Field Preservation Associates, LP (WFPA), the Partnership that bought Wings Field on October 30, 1998. The Partnership is comprised of forty-five individuals and corporations who base and use aircraft at Wings as well as community-minded citizens who desired to preserve Wings’ 217 acres as predominately open space. The Partnership acquired Wings Field to save and improve it as an airport. Partners who invested in the field did so with the understanding that their contribution was not intended to be treated as an ordinary investment or to emphasize a return from the investment.
The Partnership does not operate the airport, however. The operator, known as a Fixed Base Operator (FBO), is an entirely separate and unrelated entity responsible for maintaining the airport, fueling, storing and repairing the airplanes. It also provides flight instruction and operates an air charter service.
Montgomery County Aviation
This Fixed Based Operator (FBO) runs aviation operations at historic Wings Field. It operates the airport’s fueling and line service operations, flight school, maintenance shop, hangar and tie-down storage spaces, and pilot shop. MCA has brought an unparalleled level of customer service, technical skill, and focus on safe and secure operations to Wings. Its flight school is one of the largest in southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. With its large fleet of modern single- and twin-engine aircraft, it provides the latest in aviation technology to its airplane rental customers.
Montgomery County Aviation can be reached at 215.646.0400.
Montgomery County Flight Academy
Three months after Henri Merriken’s Triple Springs dairy farm was purchased and turned into an airfield in May 1930, the Wings Flying School opened for business. Lewin Barringer, the young pilot who discovered the farm, began teaching his friends how to fly gliders. Soon students were flying powered planes. In the more than 75 years since, thousands of others earned their pilot licenses at Wings.
Today, the Montgomery County Flight Academy continues the long Wings flight training tradition. The flight school has nine flight instructors, 12 single-engine and one twin-engine aircraft in its fleet. The largest flight school in the Philadelphia area, it has over 100 active students and another 400 experienced pilots who use its services for advanced training, flight reviews, and aircraft rental.
Student pilots learn at their own pace at the flight academy. Some take a couple of lessons a month and need a year or more to get their license. Others who opt for the progressive flight training program can pass their flight tests within a few months.”
Interested future aviators can "try it out" with a 30-minute Discovery Flight. Call today at 215.646.0400 to arrange your first flight lesson.
Montgomery County Aviation Maintenance Shop
Montgomery County Aviation is committed to providing unmatched service maintaining your aircraft. With a focus on safety, quality, professionalism, and customer satisfaction, it is confident that its prompt and reliable service will earn your business every time.
MCA’s staff of factory trained and FAA certified airframe and powerplant mechanics can handle any aircraft from single engine piston to multi-engine turbine. We are factory direct service centers for Cessna and Cirrus. Parts not on our shelves can usually be ordered from the factory for overnight delivery. Whether you need an oil change or a major repair, MCA is here to serve. Its services include:
- Annuals and 100-hour inspections
- Pre-purchase inspections
- Engine and airframe maintenance
- Major repairs and alterations
- Routine service
- SB/AD compliance
- Premium engine mount upgrades
- Composite repair and paint
- E-max installs
- Corrosion X treatment
- Altimeter system test and inspection
- ATC transponder checks
- Nicad battery service
- Parts for Cessna and Cirrus as well as many others in stock
- 24/7 emergency service (fees apply)
Call today at 215.540.0877 to set up your appointment.
Philadelphia Aviation Country Club
Its opening on April 24, 1932, drew aviators from Boston, New York, and Wilmington. Names like duPont, Sharples, Taliafero, Forbes and Moon came to its “house warming” in their Stearmans, Travel Airs, Wacos, Fleets, or Monocoupes.
Upon its opening, the Philadelphia Aviation Country Club, a members only club established in a farm house at Wings, boasted fine food, drink, a swimming pool, a tennis court and a cordial atmosphere in a 300 year-old farmhouse that even included guest rooms for overnight stays. That was important because the PACC was a famed stopover for flyers and business people who traveled along the east coast during aviation's early days.
Today, the Philadelphia Aviation Country Club still welcomes members for lunches and dinners. Then as now, its purposes are the same – “to promote the science of aeronautics; to develop aviation among its members; and to provide an atmosphere which encourages the exchange of business interests.” Members, their business associates, families and friends still enjoy the camaraderie, fine food, refreshments, and the terraced porch with unparalleled views of Wings Field and the large, broad, flat meadows that make up one of the largest remaining tracts of open space in Whitpain Township. For more information, call 215.646.3034.
PennSTAR Flight
Operating from Wings Field since October 1996, the University of Pennsylvania Health System’s white, blue and red helicopter is a well-known fixture in the skies over Whitpain and Plymouth Townships.
During the twelve months ending June 30, 2006, the PennSTAR 1 helicopter flew over 600 patient-carrying missions from Wings Field, or an average of nearly two a day. Ninety percent of the flights took the PennSTAR crews to remote locations for on-the-scene medical evacuations. These required landings on highways, parking lots, football fields, and even backyards. Sixty-one of the missions picked up children; 10% involved inter-hospital transfers of critically ill patients.
PennSTAR’s crews are on-call 24 hours a day, 365 days each year. Only poor weather keeps the helicopter grounded. During the past year, 15% of the missions took place between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., or about two per week.
The PennSTAR Flight Program began in the late-1980s when the University of Pennsylvania Health System recognized the need for a safe, efficient and rapid means for transporting critically ill patients to the Medical Center. Since then PennSTAR has transported over 24,000 patients. The hospital now operates five helicopters from bases in West Chester (serving Chester and Delaware counties), Reading (Berks, Lancaster, and Schuylkill counties), Nazareth (Northampton and Lehigh counties), Wings (Montgomery county), and Lehighton (Carbon county).
Angel Flight East
Angel Flight East is in the business of Public Benefit Flying. That means it provides free air transportation to people of all ages whose medical needs – evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment – can only be met by health care facilities far from their hometowns.
Angel Flight East provides timely travel to patients with potentially life-threatening illnesses who can't withstand traveling long distances by auto, rail, or bus.
It also facilitates Compassion Flights when a compelling personal crisis, like a 'last visit' to a desperately or terminally ill family member, requires rapid travel across many miles. It offers these flights to children, teens, adults and families when the high cost of commercial flying is prohibitive.
Its involvement doesn't end with just individuals and families. Angel Flight East also responds to entire communities, particularly in times of disaster. It participates in relief by transporting critical emergency equipment, personnel, and medical supplies. It was there after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita swept through the Gulf Coast. And it will be ready, whenever and wherever the need may arise.
The people of Angel Flight East have undertaken this important work through the elite corps of more than 500 volunteer pilots who answer its calls-to-action. On a moment's notice, these pilots donate their time, aircraft, and all flight expenses (including today's sky-rocketing cost of fuel). They ensure their passengers' access to life-saving medical care, to bringing loved ones together, and to airlifting supplies and personnel to those recovering from disaster.
For more information, call Angel Flight East at 215.358.1900.
Blue Bell Air LLC
Based at Wings Field, Blue Bell Air operates a fleet of revolutionary Eclipse 500 very light jets and a twin propeller-driven Piper Chieftain. These aircraft are available for charter and for fractional ownership.
Blue Bell Air's Piper Chieftain seats 6 passengers plus a pilot and co-pilot. The twin-engine aircraft cruises at 212 mph and has a non-stop range of 800 miles. The Piper Chieftain can hold up to 1,800 lbs. of baggage, golf clubs, and other equipment.
The Eclipse 500 is a luxurious ultra-efficient, ultra-quiet, twin-jet that is designed to deliver jet performance at propeller prices. It features leather seats for four passengers, a refreshment bar, and air conditioning. It operates with a crew of two. Blue Bell Air can also arrange charter flights on business jets to destinations anywhere in the USA and the world.
Any special catering needs are easily arranged for the Piper Chieftain and the Eclipse 500.
Blue Bell Air also manages Eclipse One LLC and Chieftain One LLC that accept deposits for fractional ownership interests in two Eclipse 500 Jets and the Piper Chieftain that operate from Wings Field.
For more information, call Blue Bell Air at 800-398-8112.
Midlantic Jet Aviation Inc.
Midlantic Jet offers air charter services across the country and abroad. One of the biggest benefits of air charter travel is access to over 5000 airports that commercial airlines do not serve. Passengers can travel on their own schedule, departing and arriving when they want, in the privacy and comfort of their own personal aircraft cabin. Midlantic Jet also helps with travel planning arrangements so that your trip is as efficient and enjoyable as possible.
Midlantic Jet has access to an extensive network of light, mid-size and heavy aircraft. Among them are Gulfstream IV SP, Falcon 900 EX, Lear 55 and 31A, and King Air B100 and B350.
To charter an aircraft in the Midlantic Jet fleet, call 866-359-6524 in Pennsylvania or 800-633-4211 in New Jersey.
Aviation Insurance Unlimited
Aviation Insurance Unlimited was founded in 1975 and has since grown to be one of the leaders in the aviation insurance industry representing all of the major carriers in the country. Because it represents all of the aviation insurance companies in the U.S., it can obtain the best protection at the most economical cost. Whatever your size, whatever your type operation, Aviation Insurance Unlimited can obtain the best coverage at the best price. You'll enjoy prompt, personal, professional and courteous service.
Aviation Insurance Unlimited provides coverage for aircraft (business and pleasure, charter services, flying clubs, warbirds and classics, flight schools, industrial aid, aircraft sales, non-owners), airports (premises, products, hangarkeepers), and property (buildings, contents, equipment).
For more information, call Aviation Insurance Unlimited at 800-682-3901.
