Moving up from Lubbock, Texas in 1957, Dan Hollingsworth was only five years old when his parents decided to start a new life in Alaska. His dad had been stationed in Alaska when in the Army, and liked it so much that when his military days were history the Hollingsworth family went north, to Alaska, specifically to the Anchorage area.

And that new life revolved around aviation, which continues as the lynchpin in the total Alaskan economy. Young Hollingsworth got the flying bug about four years out of high school, soloing at age 23 in a Cessna 150.

His reason was very simple: "I could get to where I wanted to go." And like most young male Alaskans, that meant hunting and fishing almost anywhere in this vast northern frontier, twice the size of Texas and almost a fifth as large as all the rest of the United States.

And it also meant earning a living as a bush pilot, much more exciting and often better paying than his high school and post high school days washing dishes, working in a produce warehouse, running a delivery rig, landscaping, even doing concrete work on a paving crew.

But he also had some vision, like operating an aircraft repair and maintenance business, tailor-made for bush pilots and the small aircraft industry in Alaska. Today his firm, Dan’s Aircraft Repair, operates one of the biggest fixed-base facilities in Alaska with 10 employees and enough talent and tools to fix just about any airplane that finds its way to his field.

"Generally most of our pilots arrive safely on their, or their customer’s favorite lake for fishing, hunting, etc. But often, if it’s a successful hunt, that plane lifting off is a bit heavier than anticipated. So repairing planes that had some take-off problems is our biggest share of business," says Dwight ‘Red’ Smith, director of maintenance.

Mostly because of increasing costs of flying, especially aviation fuel, Hollingsworth decided two years ago that it might be smart to diversify. The fly-in, drive-in aircraft repair business is not a guarantee anymore. But airplane housing for your flying friends might be the right business alternative.

Indeed. Hollingsworth built 19 new hangars the past couple of years with most being 46 x 36-foot units, but ranging from 40 x 30 feet, to a bigger 56 x 62-foot unit. And he was able to sell each new hangar practically as soon as his contractor finished the job. The primary reason for the new hangars was because real estate taxes on his property were exploding. He couldn’t justify ‘tiedown’ space on his property any more. The reason for the variety of sizes was simply to squeeze as many hangars as possible onto the available land space.

"Building and selling these new hangars has made a big difference in the financials of this business, like cutting my lease payments on my own building from $1500 a month down to $50," he relates.

However, that quick sale of the 19 hangars was precipitated by more than just the market opportunity. Hollingsworth simply says, "I built them right. I built them the way I would build my own hangar. That means steel rafters, prefabricated insulated units with natural gas heat, concrete floors with in-floor devices to accept lifts, which permits stacking individual airplanes two deep. Plus good lighting. Each hangar also has a bathroom and shower, floor drains and oil separators.

"There’s enough cold-weather flying so guys really appreciate having a heated hangar. Also keeping your plane out of the sun simply preserves its life that much longer."

Each new hangar got equipped with a Schweiss bi-fold door, complete with the lift-strap system, walk-through doors, remote control and automatic latching.

"It’s a terrific door. That lift-strap was the first feature to catch my eye. Getting away from cables looked like a better deal. So far, it’s completely trouble free, regardless of weather. And tremendous service from the Schweiss people too. I ordered all 19 at one time but wanted deliveries to coincide with my contractor. That was no problem for the Schweiss people. Because of their service, plus of course the quality of their door, I’m telling others about the Schweiss units as well."

He also says the unique bi-fold action eliminates any problem with snow piling up in front of the hangar. And you don’t need additional parking space out front like you do with a hydraulic door. "So from my experience, this lift-strap system hitched to a bi-fold action is a perfect door for our conditions."

Hollingsworth admits the current economic squeeze is slowing down aviation in Alaska, but it will always be a key link of economic development, simply because of the size and remote accessibility of much of this huge state. Plus the oil industry continues to pump huge amounts of money into the total economy of Alaska.

"Right now the oil industry is enjoying record profits, and eventually wages of the workers will start reflecting this new money as well and then aviation is likely to rebound again," is his analysis.

His customers cover the gamut ranging from oil field workers to bookkeepers. Plumbers, doctors, attorneys, anesthesiologists, some professional guides, and Anchorage businessmen make up the nucleus of his customers. "For some flying is part of their business, for others flying is a recreational sport," notes Hollingsworth.

Except for one twin-engine airplane, single-engine planes predominate at the Hollingsworth airpark. He flies a Super Cub, plus keeps a Cessna 140 for his crew. So far no business jets are parking in any of his new hangars though one of his customers is in the market for a small business jet.

A special recognition this past winter at the big FedEx Aviation Show at Anchorage was a unique Super Cub P18 powered with a Lycoming 160 horsepower engine and completely rebuilt by Dan’s Aircraft Repair. Several business firms contribute several thousand dollars for this special raffle at this show.

"We were pleased we had the opportunity to prepare this Super Cub for this big event. FedEx and several major firms and exhibitors support this show, including the special raffle. Tickets sell for $50 and some guy now has a Super Cub specially equipped with bush wheels, a bush tail wheel, extra baggage compartments, two extra cargo doors plus a cargo pod on the bottom. This very definitely is a ‘one-of-a-kind’ Super Cub and we’re proud it came through our shop," sums up Hollingsworth. For more info on Alaska aviation check his web site: www.dansaircraft.com.