Aircraft Spruce: From A One-Woman Visionary to a General Aviation Force
Flo Irwin. Unlike a play on words that her name might suggest, this was not a woman who just went with the flow… This was a “highly energetic, dynamic” person who started a legacy in the aviation business community. Bob and Flo Irwin started what is now Aircraft Spruce & Specialty Company in the summer of 1956. Bob, a pilot since 1940 and active in the Civil Air Patrol along with other aviation groups, worked in the aerospace industry. While he worked full-time, Flo – who started out with no aviation experience but learned very quickly – managed their little aircraft parts business, taking orders from their home.
Her management of the business, which focused on fair prices and excellent service kept their customers coming back. Soon, the Irwins realized they needed to expand to a larger facility. Finding a location at the Fullerton Airport in Southern California led them to create Fullerton Air Parts, which grew into one the largest retail aircraft parts suppliers in the western United States in less than a decade. “This was really my mom’s doing,” said her son Jim. “My mother was the business person behind it.”
In 1965, Bob and Flo sold Fullerton Air Parts with the idea that Flo would stay home to focus on raising her two sons. “That lasted about six months,” laughs Jim. Well ahead of her time, and somewhat unusual in this era, Flo realized she could both run a business and raise her children. With this, Bob and Flo founded Aircraft Spruce Company and thought they would keep things simple by offering their customers only one product, aircraft-grade spruce lumber for aircraft construction and restoration. That philosophy didn’t long. Soon, they were adding more and more products to their inventory.
Then they thought it would be helpful to have a catalog so that customers far and wide could see their products and place orders by telephone to be shipped. Their catalog started off very small, recalls Jim. Flash forward, today their catalog is more than 1,100 pages and contains more than 100,000 products. It’s available both online and in print. In keeping with Flo’s determination to keep her customers happy, she shipped orders daily. Aircraft Spruce continues to do so, usually getting parts to their customers within a couple of days.
Aircraft Spruce also continues the tradition of expanding their products and product lines. “We are one of Garmin’s biggest distributors,” noted Jim. Aircraft Spruce is also a major distributor for Lycoming and Continental products. “We want to be that one-stop-shop for everything our customers need,” said Jim.
As Bob and Flo grew their business, they were determined to maintain their fair pricing and top-notch customer service and added the goal of providing the parts, tools and supplies every pilot and aircraft builder or restorer needed to complete their projects. Jim and his younger brother John grew up in the business. “I would come in after school and pull parts (for shipping) and later I would cut wood or metal to process orders,” said Jim. “I really learned the business from my mom, working side-by-side with her.” During and after college, “I became involved in the business end, especially sales,” he added. “Through all of this, my mother was really the force behind the business and that was pretty unusual at the time.”
Within a couple of years after his graduation from California Sate University at Fullerton, Jim acquired Aircraft Spruce and Specialty and became president in 1980. Jim’s wife, Nanci, a graduate of the University of Southern California with a degree in accounting is Vice President of the company and manages the accounting and data processing departments. Both Jim and Nanci are active pilots, he with well over 4,000 hours as a multi-engine, instrument-rated pilot since 1976 and she with a private license.
In 1983, Bob and Flo moved to Lake Havasu City, Arizona. That might have been a retirement plan for some, but not the Irwins. Along with their son John, the founded ACS Products Company, which manufactures a line of products distributed by Aircraft Spruce. John and his wife Frances now manage ACS Products Company.
Sadly Flo Irwin passed away on June 10, 1989 but not before leaving a legacy of aviation businesses that continue to thrive and serve the general aviation community through her sons and their families. “My mom went from seeing telephone orders to fax orders, but that’s about it. She passed before technology really took off. I think she would be amazed at how the business has evolved. I think she would have been pretty proud, too,” said Jim. Bob Irwin passed away on June 26, 2015 at the celebrated age of 95! He was an instrument-rated pilot with more than 2000 hours. He flew a 1968 Navion Rangemaster, which was based at Lake Havasu, until May 2000 when he retired after 50 years of flying. As legacies go, he moved his Navion to Chino Airport where his grandchildren continue to fly it.
Not only do his grandchildren fly, they are “in the process” of taking over Aircraft Spruce… and while Jim sees himself on a golf course in the not-too-distant-future, each of his four children, three sons: Mike, Jeff and Rob and daughter, Chrissy, are managing departments at Aircraft Spruce. Don’t take Jim’s golf course comment too seriously. He was quick to add, “I love what I do and I’m thankful for every day I get to come to work. Nanci and I have been doing this for some 40 years and we love the challenge and we love working side-by-side with our children. We look forward to continuing to grow!”
Growth is an underlining theme at Aircraft Spruce. “Aircraft Spruce has been very fortunate over the years to grow from one person 50-plus years ago to what it is today. It’s taken a lot of hard work but mostly we’ve had great support from the aviation community. We couldn’t be more thankful, especially for the great people we deal with everyday. Aviation people are pretty special and we look forward to doing this for many years to come,” said Jim.
From their mom-and-pop (mostly mom) start in a home to the Fullerton Airport to the former Fullerton citrus packing house to the new (in 1997) 62,000-square-foot complex in Corona, Calif., Aircraft Spruce has continued to establish facilities and warehouses throughout the country, including Peachtree, Georgia; Ontario, Canada; and most recently in Chicago and Alaska. The family also owns and operates a second business called Aero Performance. This is mostly a wholesale business selling to FBOs and other facilities. Aero Performance has locations in Texas, Pennsylvania and Arizona. This brings the family business to a total of eight facilities, seven in the U.S. and one in Canada.
Since Aircraft Spruce and Aero Performance work hand in hand, the focus of the business is to get orders shipped quickly and efficiently and this can happen with customers being served usually within two days from their facilities throughout the country. Generally, “97 to 98 percent of all orders are shipping the same day,” said Jim, “and those orders usually get to our customers within two days.” Aircraft Spruce ships between 15,000 and 20,000 orders every week. “We do our best to keep this part of our business finely tuned. It’s important to our customers to get their orders quickly, whether they are a new airplane owner or a kit builder and need a part or they are refurbishing a classic or a warbird. These projects are important; they are the heart and soul and a big part of the aviation community.”
With his years of experience, Jim says aviation is in a “very good spot” today. There are “many options” by which to learn how to fly, to maybe own an aircraft or be part of a team to refurbish an aircraft.” Aircraft Spruce wants to be a “one-stop-shop” for everyone’s needs in the aviation community. “We are excited about finding new products and bringing new product lines into the business.”
To think this all started in “one room with our mom at the helm, is really amazing,” states Jim. From one employee and a mail-order type of business to now more than 300 employees, all online and ready to serve in a multitude of positions, Aircraft Spruce’s president credits his “ahead-of-the-times mom with her philosophy of good customer service” and the many repeat customers throughout the years for where they are today.
“I’m really proud of all of our employees,” he added. They work very hard to keep our customers satisfied and coming back. They are really focused on their jobs and we’re so thankful for how hard to work. That’s reflected in our repeat business customers, which is very important,” Jim said.
Aircraft Spruce is headquarterd at 225 Airport Circle in Corona, Calif. and have four other locations. Find more information, including their products and locations on their website at www.aircraftspruce.com or call toll free for information and order placement at 877-477-7823.
