(L/R) Manitowoc County Airport Manager Chuck Behnke, Curt Drumm of Lakeshore Aviation, and Jeff Baum of Wisconsin Aviation and Vice President of WATA.
GREEN BAY, WIS. – The Wisconsin Aviation Trades Association (WATA) has named Lakeshore Aviation, located at Manitowoc County Regional Airport in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, “Wisconsin Aviation Business of the Year.” The award was presented to Lakeshore Aviation President Curt Drumm at the awards luncheon, May 3, 2011, during the Wisconsin Aviation Conference in Green Bay. The award recognizes excellence in the aviation trades.
Lakeshore Aviation opened its doors on January 1, 2005, with the goal of breathing new life into a rather quiet, hometown airport. Since then, the company has been working hard toward that goal, building a busy flight school, earning an FAA Part 135 Air Charter Certificate, attracting new based aircraft, heading up hangar development, building awareness of the airport’s economic value to the community, and doing everything it can to “promote” general aviation.
Lakeshore Aviation has an experienced staff of 10 people, and offers flight instruction, air charter, piston aircraft maintenance, aircraft management, pilot services, aircraft storage, and aircraft sales.
Lakeshore Aviation operates out of three hangars at Manitowoc County Regional Airport with 22,000 square feet of space. On October 29, 2010, Lakeshore Aviation built a new 5,000 square foot hangar next to its existing facilities. A new fuel farm with significantly larger tanks and a self-service fuel system was also installed. Total fuel storage capacity is now 35,000 gallons.
Manitowoc is now home to 70 aircraft, and the airport has an economic impact of nearly $10 million to the local community.
The principal owner of Lakeshore Aviation is Curt Drumm, who is president and director of operations. Keith Hartlaub, who operates Savage Aircraft Sales, has a minority interest in Lakeshore Aviation. The “Savage” is a light sport aircraft from the Czech Republic.
Curt Drumm is a Commercial/Instrument-rated pilot with 4500 hours. He flies and instructs in single and multi-engine land aircraft, and also operates the only full-time seaplane flight school in Wisconsin. In addition to the four flight school airplanes, Lakeshore Aviation owns a Piper Seneca II, and a Cessna 172XP amphibious seaplane.
Curt Drumm is also an FAA Fast Team Safety Counselor and serves on the Manitowoc Airport Advisory Committee. He served 5 years on the national Seaplane Pilots Association Board of Directors, and is an adjunct faculty member at Lakeshore Technical College, teaching aviation. His previous business experience includes 20 years in radio, television and motion picture production, and 18 years as Executive Vice President of Metal Ware in Two Rivers, Wisconsin.
To help promote aviation in Manitowoc County, Curt Drumm helps produce an annual air show called “Thunder On The Lakeshore,” now in its 19th year. Rain for three consecutive years nearly forced the show to stop, but in a last-minute push, enough corporate sponsors were obtained to produce the show in 2010. The dates for this year’s show are June 4 and 5, and the show will feature award-winning civilian and military performers. Attendance at past shows has been up to 45,000 people.
Presenting the award to Drumm was Jeff Baum of Wisconsin Aviation and a member of the WATA Board of Directors.
