Revv Aviation is spreading its wings across the region by extending its aircraft maintenance services and flight operations to the Quad Cities International Airport (QCIA). The Midwest aviation company, which has been steadily growing since acquiring the former Carver Aero in eastern Iowa, now is leasing what had been a vacant QCIA hangar building/office space […]
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Revv Aviation is spreading its wings across the region by extending its aircraft maintenance services and flight operations to the Quad Cities International Airport (QCIA).
The Midwest aviation company, which has been steadily growing since acquiring the former Carver Aero in eastern Iowa, now is leasing what had been a vacant QCIA hangar building/office space located on the south side of the Moline airport.
Revv Aviation Moline, which officially moved into the former Rock Island Arsenal hangar in October, is busy getting contractor bids to renovate the hangar’s two-story office building, said Rod Kelly, marketing director for Revv Aviation, based in Aurora, Illinois.
By expanding to the QCIA, Revv Aviation will be able to offer its general aircraft maintenance services for customers at the Moline airport — including commercial airlines — as well as service its own fleet of charter planes. “So if you own a plane and need an oil change, work on an engine or piston, or an annual inspection, you can bring it here and we’ll service it,” he said.
The services will complement the aviation services it already provides at its facility at the former Carver Aero — rebranded earlier this year as Revv Aviation — at the Davenport Municipal Airport.
He said the company hopes to accept a bid by the end of December or early January and begin interior construction work in January. The scope of the project, he added, “will include paint, new carpeting, ceiling tiles and such, but the bones of the facility are in good shape. It’s really refreshing it, getting it up to a 2023 feel and looking more like the other Revv locations we currently have.”
“Expanding our footprint to the Quad Cities International Airport is significant because of the strong need for piston and turbine engine maintenance for the general aviation tenants on the airfield,” Guy Lieser, CEO of Revv Aviation, told the QCBJ. “It also fits nicely into the airport authority’s longer range plans for expanding economic development initiatives in Moline.”
Mr. Lieser added that in addition to the maintenance services it has offered since Oct. 1, “We have added business and personal charter services with our fleet of King Air turboprops.”
After renovations are complete, he said the new QCIA location also will house Revv Aviation’s new flight training offices in early 2023. Mr. Kelly said the operation currently has two maintenance technicians on site and expects to add another position in January and grow as services expand.
Part of the family of companies owned by CL Enterprises in Peru, Illinois, Revv Aviation is a network of fixed-base operations (FBOs) in Aurora and Schaumburg, Illinois; Council Bluffs, Davenport and Muscatine, Iowa; Huron, South Dakota, and Janesville, Wisconsin. The company launched after CL Enterprises’ purchase of Carver Aero in 2019 and has had multiple acquisitions since. CL Enterprises is owned by the entrepreneurial husband and wife team of Peter Limberger and Inga Carus, both avid pilots.
Ben Leischner, the QCIA’s executive director, said Revv’s arrival at the airport means commercial and general aviation planes will again have on-site access to maintenance services. He added that the QCIA’s fixed-base operator, Elliott Aviation, transitioned out of those services years ago to focus on its core businesses.
By providing more convenient access to maintenance services, it also should improve reliability and decrease the number of flight delays. “It’s a small airport problem — if there is a maintenance issue here, it can be more impactful because of a lack of resources,” Mr. Leischner said, adding that crews often will have to wait for maintenance staff and parts to arrive in Moline from other locations.
Revv Aviation’s expansion plans align with the airport’s goals to increase avionics services and activities available at QCIA. In fact, since its arrival in October, he said “We’ve had increased demand for smaller airplanes wanting to come to our hangar spaces.”
The hangar that Revv Aviation now occupies and leases at a monthly rate of $2,330, had sat vacant for some time. Located west of the FAA air traffic control tower, it has been known as the Army hangar, Arsenal hangar and Minuteman hangar for its past tenants. The previous tenant used the building for storage, Mr. Leischner said, adding that the airport purchased it back with the plan to attract new activity.
Mr. Leischner said the airport authority approved a five-year lease this fall with Revv Aviation with an option to extend. The company’s plans for offering other aeronautical services helped reduce the lease price. “If they are able to make certain profit levels, a percentage will go to the Metropolitan Airport Authority,” he added.
The more avionic activity the airport supports, the more funding it is eligible to apply for, he added. “There are more state funding streams directly correlated with take offs and landings.”
“Our goal is to promote aviation,” Mr. Leischner said, adding that filling the aviation industry pipeline is critical given the workforce shortages on the horizon. “Anything we can do to promote aviation jobs in the future will have a direct benefit to the industry.”
Eventually, Revv Aviation also wants to establish an aviation maintenance program and “is in discussions with Black Hawk College to see how we can partner with them to establish a program to train A&P (Airframe and/or Powerplant) mechanics and power system mechanics,” Mr. Kelly said.
He added that Revv Aviation could eventually offer such a technical training program at Moline or the Davenport airport. (A&P technicians are responsible for inspecting aircraft as well as performing, supervising and conducting preventative maintenance.)
“We’re looking to see how we can collaborate,” he said, adding that of Revv Aviation’s 10 Midwest locations, it has educational partnerships at four sites: Council Bluffs; Omaha, Nebraska; and Aurora and Schaumberg, Illinois.
“We’re getting close with Janesville, Wisconsin, and hope to be at six or eight (programs) by the end of 2023 — including Black Hawk College,” he added.
