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Commander Aero celebrates 10 years in hanagar built by Charles Kettering
Sunday, July 15, 2007
MIAMI TWP., Montgomery County — — As the owner, president and chief executive officer of Commander Aero Inc., a company that refurbishes small airplanes, John Bosch has been more than just a front-office administrator.
He personally remodeled the historic Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport hangar where his company operates and built wooden stands that hold propellers and computers on the hangar's work floor.
Robert Robillard (right) a maintenance technician in training at Commander Aero, an airplane restoration company, coats the wings of an airplane to prevent corrosion. The company is located at the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport.In his office is a generator General Electric Co. developed to provide electric power aboard aircraft. Bosch, 78, oversaw a project during his previous career with GE to design the generator so it could be used on the F-18 military jet.
He helped establish the National Aviation Heritage Foundation to promote the Wright brothers' aviation accomplishments, and is to begin serving as its chairman in October. He serves as chairman of the Wright B Flyer organization that operates a look-alike of the Wright brothers' 1911 plane, housed in a hangar next door to Commander Aero.
His company will host a dinner July 28 for about 350 participants of the Vectren Dayton Air Show.
Bosch, who was an Air Force maintenance officer based in England during the Korean War, has spent much of his life working in aviation. His enthusiasm still burns.
"I love aviation, and living in Dayton where the airplane was invented is a real pleasure," Bosch said.
Commander Aero primarily does repair, refurbishing and maintenance work on twin-engine planes, but also services single-engine aircraft. It competes with other companies that also serve general aviation, defined as planes owned by individuals or companies.
On Aug. 16, Commander Aero will host an open house from 5 to 8 p.m. to mark the 50th anniversary of the hangar it occupies, and the 10th anniversary of Commander Aero's move there from its former home at Greene County Airport.
Charles Kettering, the innovator perhaps best known for inventing the automotive electrical ignition system, established Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport in Miami Twp. The hangar Commander Aero occupies was completed in 1957, a year before Kettering's death.
"This hangar was built by Charles Kettering, so it has quite a bit of historic significance," Bosch said.
Commander Aero
Founded: 1981 at Greene County Airport. John Bosch was invited to become a partner in the company in 1985 and became sole owner in 1995. He moved the company to its present site at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport in 1997 after remodeling the host hangar.
Employees: 21
Annual revenue: $2.5 million
