Large and In Charge

Office Sign

Saying goodbye after twenty-four years of commitment to our aviation company is not easy. Consulting Aviation Services (CAS), like so many other businesses, experienced the fallout of the Covid 19 pandemic.  In January of this year, we were in negotiations with a major aircraft company to install Charles’ drag reduction invention on their fleet of aircraft.  Within six weeks, 95% of the U.S. commercial fleet was parked in remote desert airports. Our investors took a giant step back that left us with few options.

Charles likes to say that twenty-four years ago he made two proposals.  One was to the Air Force to develop his vortex control software and the other proposing marriage to me.  With a resounding Yes to both, we began a new adventurous life together.  Our marriage is still going strong, but the time to shut down CAS is here.

Engineering pack rats like to save every scrap of paper filled with equations and drawings.  Administrators, like me, save paper copies of every document that crosses our desks.  Storing them on the computer is just not the same.  The challenge was daunting, but we have made Marie Kondo proud.  We overheated the shredder for days on end. Numerous truck beds filled with trash made their way to the dumpster. Empty file cabinets and desk drawers could breathe again. 

Contemplating  Retirement

Memories of exciting experiences and people we met along the journey will remain. Admirals, generals, astronauts, CEO’s, test pilots, investors, and Pentagon personnel are some of the people that have visited our office, or we met on our travels to military bases.  Many employees that worked with us will remain friends.  We had our struggles with partners who had different ideas of the company’s direction, but in the end, Charles prevailed and kept us moving forward.

We still have an office filled with furniture and a lot of things to recycle, but we survived the worst of the downsizing ordeal.  Charles and I decided that really retiring looks good and the stress of maintaining a business is not desirable at our age.  Selling our office condo is the next challenge on our list.

Charles’ life story that we are writing together waits to be completed.  Chasing a Whirlwind tells of his adventurous life and his inventive aviation journey.  We plan to finish it by the end of 2020. 

We are trusting the rest of our future into the hands of God who knows what is best for us. Our pastor’s sermon last week about the uncertain times we are in really hit home.  My takeaway was his statement:

GOD’S LARGE AND HE’S IN CHARGE.

Maybe that statement will encourage you as you face a time of uncertainty.  Let me know if it does.