Square One Aviation of Chino

[JohnH]

Went to Chino Friday and was told that Square One has closed it's doors. I didn't go over there but it was obvious that just a skeleton crew remains, (only four vehicles parked in front) winding up the business. It's sad. I wonder what happens to the two projects parked in front of the business in May 04? (The late Ross Anderson is seen in the red shirt)

John

[homer]

eh theres nothing on thier website about closing down, apparently thier going to start making new P-51 parts too

[DaveM2]

Their website has been out of date for a long time, new P-51 parts were going to be made, before the death of the new owner.

Dave

[homer]

what happened to thier owner? and why is the company closing/ cant somebody take it over?

[DaveM2]

He was killed in a flying accident on the way to work.

Dave

[bdk]

One of the projects (not yet on the gear) moved into the hangar next to mine at Chino.

[JohnH]

It's funny what you say about websites, many stay up long after the business is gone, well especially if they never updated them anyway. They are not always a good gauge of checking for info like this. I remember Warbirds Worldwide's site (but not the BBS obviously) was up for a long time after the publication folded.

John

[David J]

Can anybody advise as to whether Pioneer Aero Service has closed its doors as well? Who else could/can supply the range of NAA Mustang parts that Pioneer could provide?

[bdk]

Can anybody advise as to whether Pioneer Aero Service has closed its doors as well?

Pioneer is still owned by the Ward family as far as I know.

I just got off the phone from talking with Tony Corbo at Square One and he confirms that they ceased operations there on October 7th. I asked if he could tell me what the problem was as far as keeping the business open, and he said that the family of Ross Anderson just did not have the interest needed to keep a business like that operating.
There were 3 unfinished Mustang projects in the works, and two of those have been moved to other hangar facilities on the field, until the owners decide what they want to do. The third one is Nathan Davis's TF-51 project, and it is still in the Sq One hangar, for the time being, as it is not on it's gear. The tooling and stock of unsold parts have been liquididated.
Pioneer Aero is still in business, owned by Elmer Wards family and is completely unrelated to Square One, since they sold it as a separate entity several years back.
I for one am very sorry to see them go out of business, but no one else seemed to want to come in and buy it, so what else was there to do?
The plane in the photo several notes above this posting is Dan Bauns project, N151TF, which is the ex N51JK.

[Rob Mears]

I find it pretty amazing that they just closed up shop and no other parties were interested in taking over operations. Here's a company with an excellent reputation, with numerous projects in house, and laborers on site. I suppose there just aren't a lot of folks out there looking to dive into the warbird restoration business. Either that, or liquidating their holdings offered more profit than they would have made selling the operation outright. Ether way, I hate to see a quality shop close its doors. RIP Square One

[Al Moore]

find it pretty amazing that they just closed up shop and no other parties were interested in taking over operations. Here's a company with an excellent reputation, with numerous projects in house, and laborers on site. I suppose there just aren't a lot of folks out there looking to dive into the warbird restoration business. Either that, or liquidating their holdings offered more profit than they would have made selling the operation outright. Ether way, I hate to see a quality shop close its doors. RIP Square One

Can't agree more.

[bdk]

I find it pretty amazing that they just closed up shop and no other parties were interested in taking over operations. Here's a company with an excellent reputation, with numerous projects in house, and laborers on site.

Definitely a niche market. Most warbird restoration operations are ones built from the ground up by an individual and grow from there. I think it is a hard business to get into unless you are an experienced warbird mechanic, but most of those wouldn't have enough money to buy an operation of that scope.

[mjanovec]

I find it pretty amazing that they just closed up shop and no other parties were interested in taking over operations. Here's a company with an excellent reputation, with numerous projects in house, and laborers on site. I suppose there just aren't a lot of folks out there looking to dive into the warbird restoration business. Either that, or liquidating their holdings offered more profit than they would have made selling the operation outright. Ether way, I hate to see a quality shop close its doors. RIP Square One

Don't tell the guys over at Moto Art. They'll end up buying up the lot and turning them into coffee tables.

[Scott Rose]

I find it pretty amazing that they just closed up shop and no other parties were interested in taking over operations. Here's a company with an excellent reputation, with numerous projects in house, and laborers on site. I suppose there just aren't a lot of folks out there looking to dive into the warbird restoration business. Either that, or liquidating their holdings offered more profit than they would have made selling the operation outright. Ether way, I hate to see a quality shop close its doors. RIP Square One

Don't tell the guys over at Moto Art. They'll end up buying up the lot and turning them into coffee tables.

Naw, P-51 Weather vane for sure... or a swing set