Partnerships keep birds in the air

MANASSAS, Va. - Successful partnerships can lead to everlasting love, fame, or riches beyond imagination.
And sometimes partnerships can mean the razor-thin difference between life and death.
It’s that former type of partnership that exists between the Prince William Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol and Dulles Aviation, which is headquartered at the Manassas Regional Airport.
“We enjoy the relationship,” said CAP pilot Capt. Tim Carey. “It would be a lot tougher for us to do rescues. We can’t do it without them.“
On a recent frosty morning that found several inches of snow on the ground, Carey and CAP Capt. Al Bergeron arrived at the airport around 5 a.m. to perform an intercept training mission in support of the Global War on Terror. On the training flight the pair, who are both experienced pilots with prior military experience, were to support the interception an airplane that was simulating unauthorized flight in restricted airspace.
The exercise was a component of CAP’s homeland security mission.
Instead of having to defrost, fuel and mechanically check out the Cessna 182 that they would fly, the pair found the aircraft gassed up, warmed up and ready to take to the sky.
“We were last in the hangar and first out,” noted Bergeron.
Carey and Bergeron said the Prince William Composite Squadron has enjoyed a partnership with Dulles Aviation that has spanned more than two decades. Co-owned and operated by brothers Tom and Joe Gardner, whose father purchased the company in 1983, Dulles Aviation provides CAP with hangar space, mechanical support, fuel, and classroom training space at cut rate prices.
“They’ve got the services; they’ve got the fuel; they’ve got the mechanics. We get prime service. We know that when it’s done, its done right,” Bergeron said.
The brothers said the partnership simply honors both their father’s legacy and an example he set that they seek to emulate.
“Dad was a great supporter of CAP,” noted Tom Gardner.
The Gardners are quick to give thanks to members of the Prince William Composite Squadron, who are called upon to search for missing pilots who have taken off from the airport.
“We just try to take care of the people who help us,” said Joe Gardner.
The Gardners described their company as a family business that seeks to give back to the community. Dulles Aviation employs 45 people and is open seven days a week, 365 days a year.
The company lost one of its hangars, which collapsed under the weight of the recent snows the area has received.
Dulles Aviation also operates a flight school that benefits the Prince William Squadron
For more information about Dulles Aviation, visit dullesavia tion.com. For more information about the Civil Air Patrol, visit go civilairpatrol.com.