Aircraft Manufacturer Builds Small Planes for Baby Boomer Generation
bedford county, business, jabiru usa sports aircraft, shelbyville, sport planes,
Most kids dream of flying, either with an airplane or without. For those who actually grow up to become pilots, the sky’s the limit … until they reach the age when strict federal regulations can ground older fliers.
That’s where Shelbyville-based Jabiru USA Sports Aircraft comes in. As a maker of light sport planes, Jabiru offers models that pilots can fly without having to pass the Federal Aviation Administration’s rigorous stress testing. These are not pilots who pose a threat; they may have mild heart issues or mild high blood pressure, says chief manager Pete Krotje.
Many of them want to downsize their planes and skip the FAA’s medical certification; the medical tests alone can cost $4,000 a year.
“It’s the baby boomer generation and the generation ahead of us,” Krotje says. “They’re financially secure. They have everything they need to enjoy life, but every year more of them are getting older.”
Those considerations were in the back of Sam Kite’s mind when he first fell in love with the J250’s engine.
“It was pretty enough to put under your coffee table,” says Kite, a flyer for four decades. Kite owns the Southern Comfort Training Center in Shelbyville and several companies in Kingsport, where he also raises walking horse colts and Black Angus cattle and breeding bulls.
He commutes in his Jabiru, bought early in 2007. The airspeed, fuel efficiency and roominess are impressive, Kite says.
“Two 200-pound men can sit side by side, and the performance is great with that kind of weight,” Kite says.
The company makes two Jabiru models – the J170 and the J250. Customers can save some money buying them as kits; the J170, the smaller model, has generated interest among flight schools. Jabiru also makes its own engines, a rarity in the U.S. light aircraft market. It imports components from Jabiru, an Australian company, and assembles them in Shelbyville, handling everything from the fiberglass to bonding and painting on site.
Separately, Krotje and his team developed the Lightning, a light plane sold only as a kit, though the owners can opt for hands-on help putting it together in Shelbyville.
“We were looking for a complement to the Jabiru line, with a low wing instead of a high wing, something faster, sexier and more responsive,” Krotje says.
In fact, it was the development of the Lightning that prompted the company’s relocation to Tennessee from Wisconsin in late 2004. Krotje wanted more space, lower taxes, nicer weather and better access to markets in the east and south. Shelbyville was a perfect fit, Krotje says.
Lynn Nelsen of Frostproof, Fla., south of Orlando, has owned airplanes since 1968. Retired from the U.S. Navy, Nelson was in Shelbyville recently getting help building his Lightning.
“This airplane is built stronger than most light sport planes, and I think it will hold up better,” Nelson says.
The staff, which has grown from two to 19 since the move to Shelbyville, produces about one Jabiru and one Lightning each week. For prices and specifications, check out www.usjabiru.com and www.flylightning.net.
Story by Pamela Coyle
Photo by Jeffrey Otto
