Sometimes finding a niche and filling the need for an alternative supplier of small high-wear parts in enough to create a viable business in aviation.

Playing the numbers is probably a better investment than trying to start a small manufacturing business, particularly in industries as shaken and regulated as today's general aviation industry. Through good luck, timing, and hard work, Stene Aviation, a small company that manufactures PMA composite products for Cessnas, is atypical in that it is a success and a survivor. John Stene, who founded his company as an FBO in the isolated vacation community of Polson, Montana in 1980, was able to transition from the thin gruel of a ma-and-pa fixed-base operation to a viable manufacturing business. His story serves as a pretty good benchmark for aviation technicians tired of slogging through the daily challenges of today's industry.

Stene grew up in Joliet, Montana in a farming family. Always fascinated by watching the ag-planes work in the area, he acquired his private pilot certificate in 1976 and by 1979 had all his ratings and set out to make his mark in general aviation. He quickly learned that he needed the ability to cover all bases by himself in order to make a living and added his A&P, based upon on-the-job experience. In 1992, he acquired the molds and manufacturing rights to fiberglass fairings and Cessna 180 cowlings from Poor Man Aviation, Bob Colby's cottage-industry effort in Ferndale, Montana.

Stene paid these products little attention until early 1993, as he was caught up with finishing some major airframe rebuilds in his shop. Stene's manufacturing activity became a full-time enterprise in 1996. Somewhere along the way, he managed to include an 11-year stint as Polson's airport manager.

While Colby had developed about 40 molds for such things as Cessna wing strut cuffs, wingtips, and rudder caps, he was selling those items without FAA PMA approvals. John recognized that there was little future in continuing down that path, so he began seeking approvals. He first approached the FAA MIDO on his own and quickly found that there would be no success without hiring a designated engineering representative. He hired Jim Nell of Fine Line Design, Pagosa Springs, Colorado, with whom he continues to have a working relationship. Stene's first PMA approval took two years to achieve. ������

Understand that Stene's products are not high-tech. The product line includes strut cuffs, wheel pants, wingtips, and caps for rudders, elevators, and vertical and horizontal stabilizers for Cessna airplanes. No Kevlar, carbon fiber, or esoteric processes here: everything is laid up by hand out of 70781 fiberglass cloth and polyester resin. Vacuum bagging? Naw. Think sweatshop. Stene's most sophisticated equipment is his paint booth and the environmental control system to keep temperatures within a useful cure range.

Nell was required to do a structural analysis, as the parts are made of composites rather than Cessna's original plastic. Effectively reverse-engineered from representative parts, much of the effort required verification of applications from reference to parts manuals, and each item required design approval. The first PMA required an extensive evaluation of Stene's quality control inspection process. He said that that went fairly easily and attributes part of that success with the fact that he already had an FAA repair station certificate. Engineering orders are also required to change processes or materials.���������

Once engineering approval was acquired, each part needed to be evaluated through a conformity inspection by a designated airworthiness representative, with checks of weight and proper fit for each application. Stene uses Dale Mumford, a DAR from Spokane, Washington who eventually received authority to complete 8130-3 export certifications for Stene's overseas customers. ����

Other than new product approvals, Stene's current contact with the FAA largely involves an annual MIDO inspection and a more comprehensive inspection about every five years. Generally an even tempered, low-key individual, Stene maintains his composure when he discusses visits by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. After a disgruntled employee brought on an OSHA visit (where they found nothing related to the complaint, but did find other discrepancies), he shared some advice. He suggests that inspectors from either OSHA or EPA not be allowed on the premises without a search warrant outlining specific items of interest and that they be permitted to take notes, ask whatever questions they wish, but not be permitted to take photographs. His concern stems from his experience of the inspections becoming fishing expeditions, reinforced by the inspectors taking photographs back to the office and exhaustively reviewing them for potentially incriminating irregularities. ����������

One virtue of low-tech manufacturing is that it is not rocket science. As a result it doesn't take such a scientist to see that the work force does not need to be highly educated or trained. Nor, unfortunately, do they need to be (or can they be) highly paid, resulting in a fair level of turnover for pretty routine and mind-numbing work. Stene succeeds by working out of a modest shop and office, with a total of nine employees. Four of his six craftsmen are stable and "good help" at this time. New hires undergo training on chemicals and materials and then start on the assembly line. Stene said that you can generally tell within a week if a new-hire has the aptitude for the job. Some last a day. He said he starts everyone quite a bit above minimum wage and accelerates their compensation as fast as they learn the job. Most have a handle on the job within three to six months, and they are fully cross-trained. Everyone is on the same pay scale after one year of experience. He provides workman's compensation insurance and vacations and says that he'd like to provide health care benefits if he could find a reasonable package. It's evident that this is a no-frills operation. By keeping it that way, Stene has been able to hold his prices for more than two years without an increase. ���������

Low-tech or otherwise, it is clear by looking at the end products that they are very nicely made. A droop-tip for a Cessna can have as many as eight laminations in areas that need it, and they are all tightly laid with minimal resin build-up. After they are popped from the molds, the gelcoat is carefully filled and touched up by hand; it's likely that there is more labor involved in prep than in fabrication. The final touch is a coat of gray acrylic-lacquer primer before packaging for shipping.��������

Some popular parts are kept in stock and shipped immediately. Other parts are built to order, typically being ready for shipping within a week of the order. Wheel pants are hard to keep in stock and are another strong product. Cessna 150, 172, and 182 product lines are the bread-and-butter volume items. Stene currently has about 300 molds and sees plenty of growth opportunity into Beech and Piper products. �������

Other services include repair of fiberglass parts that are shipped in and building parts for STC holders. Stene encourages STC aspirants to fabricate the part they want first as a prototype, get it to fit and test it, then send it to him to fabricate the molds, rather than asking him to attempt to build the molds from drawings. With his high quality and low overhead production costs, Stene's company appears to be a highly attractive supplier for STCed products. He often builds molds from customers' uncommon and tired parts, retaining the molds for expanding his product line. �������

Stene has been reluctant to pursue OEMs, fearful of gearing up as a supplier and then having the props knocked out from under him with a contract change. He has had discussions with Cessna, for example, but they faded after finding little common ground over pricing.����������

Stene markets his products through publications such as Trade-A-Plane, General Aviation News, Aviator's Hotline, and Cessna Owners magazine. He particularly likes publications that provide links to his website, and says that his website gets an astonishing 20,000 hits a month. He does not do trade shows at this time, and has a strong word-of-mouth customer base. He prefers direct marketing rather than setting up a distributor network, saying that he enjoys keeping in touch with his customers and much prefers to resolve any problems or concerns directly, instead of hearing about them third- or fourth-hand. �����

Stene attributes his success to good luck and timing. There is that, of course, but an objective look at his business makes it clear that there was a lot of commitment to acquiring compliance with FAA requirements, building a good product at reasonable prices, and running a tight ship with minimal overhead. Asked what he would do differently now, he said only that he wishes he had started sooner. Stene certainly should have no complaints. He gets to live in a lovely low-cost part of the country, with Flathead Lake immediately adjacent to the airport, where he can exercise his Cessna 185 amphibian. When he tires of that, he can play with his RV-8 or he can climb into his Cessna 210 for a faster trip someplace. Mostly, as he says, he can now enjoy aviation for the reasons he was attracted to it, rather than fighting the daily FBO fight.