Landing gear business gains momentum

Father, daughter work from home

MOSES LAKE - After two years of operating an aircraft landing gear company, a home-based business near Moses Lake plans to expand by adding another building on site to spread out equipment and increase production.

From the outside, the two-car garage at the Schmidts' home appears unassuming.

But the inside looks like a small manufacturing facility with a mill to coat parts, a sander, a chop saw, an oven for powder coating, a tig welder and a part press.

The business, Custom Flight Systems, sells landing gear for seven types of light sport aircraft online and locally at Jackson Flight Center near Moses Lake.

The system is the same for the various aircrafts, but adapted to each type of aircraft, said the business owner Wade Schmidt.

Wade said he always loved flying and holds a private pilot's license. He designed the landing gear system his business sells, which looks distinct with spring coils on the device.

He explained that other types of landing gear break in rough terrain or soft soil.

In some cases when landing gear breaks, the whole front section of the nose cone can be damaged and more repair work is needed, said his daughter Jessica Schmidt, who handles the sales and marketing for the company.

Although the company's product is more expensive than traditional landing gear, it ends up being cheaper to make the investment due to the product's durability, Jessica confirmed.

She also designed the company's Web site and maintains it, which allows Wade to handle the equipment development and manufacturing side of the business.

"It just seems to work out the best this way," Wade said.

Wade and Jessica have other jobs during the week, but devote time to their home business on the weekends, they explained.

He currently works as a manager for a local aerospace company in assembly operations and manufacturing. She works part-time in an espresso stand.

Jessica, 25, earned a major in animal science and a minor in business at BYU-Idaho. She graduated from the school in 2006.

Wade said his next project is to develop a supply chain for the product and developing new landing gear systems for new aircrafts.

He currently makes and manufactures the systems' parts from home. The business is making a profit, but currently puts the money back into equipment, he said.

He talked to a company about having them build a part that's time-consuming for him to work on, which is part of the trailing link suspension called the weldment.

They are trying to slowly expand the business and have sold the product to customers in Canada, Puerto Rico and Hawaii.

"We know we have a market," Wade said. "It's just developing that market and understanding the shipping. There's a lot of European, Asian and African continents to draw from. That's our next step."

Jessica said she enjoys helping the customers, who are located in the United States and in other countries. She said it's interesting to have a customer base all over the world. Wade mentioned how Jessica e-mailed customers from France and answered all of their detailed questions about the product.

Wade said he enjoyed hearing about how well the system worked and having two companies buy his system for unmanned aerial vehicles.

"That's been the biggest compliment for me," Wade said.

For more information, visit www.CustomFlightSystems.com.