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Ponderosa and Commanders:

A 36-year Partnership

It would be difficult to find a more ardent fan of Commanders than Ponderosa Aviation. The Safford, Arizona-based operator has 21 Commanders in its fleet including 13 500S Shrikes, a 500B, a 500U, a pair of 680Vs, a 680W, and three 690Bs. Among the Shrikes is the first Commander that Ponderosa bought. That was in 1975, just a year after the company was founded. It had 800 hours on it then; today, with 21,000 hours on the airframe, it's Ponderosa's fleet leader and, according to Director of Operations Shawn Perry, the sentimental favorite. “It's the high-time airplane, but I think it's the best airplane,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what you do to it, it’s ready to go all the time. But I’m a little partial to it because I was born and raised in that airplane.”

Perry is the son of Ponderosa founder Leon Perry, who recognized an opportunity in the arcane business of contracting with government agencies to provide aerial support to fight wildfires. He launched the business with a Baron, but quickly concluded it was not well suited to the fire-fighting mission.

A friend recommended Commanders, and soon after Perry bought a 500S and sold the Baron. The business grew—he expanded into air ambulance flights—and he bought a second Commander, then a third, and from then on Ponderosa was committed to Commanders. According to Shawn Perry, Commanders are uniquely qualified for the demanding aerial reconnaissance role that they play in the fire-fighting mission.

The high-mounted wing, which provides excellent air-to-ground visibility, is key, Perry says, but there is a lot more to like as well. “We like Commanders for the cost of operation, the good payload and performance, and it's a bulletproof airplane if it's maintained properly,” he says. “But above all else, our customers enjoy it because of the visibility, the stability, and the platform.”

The “customers” Perry refers to are the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the two agencies with primary responsibility for battling wildfires throughout the U.S. Both agencies contract with private operators like Ponderosa for so-called “air attack” aerial support. The term refers to aircraft that are first responders to reports of a wildfire. A pilot and a tactical supervisor who represents the USFS or BLM launch in a Commander from a tanker base to locate the fire, and then will loiter for hours around the fire—up to 4.5 hours for the piston Commanders, and 5.5 hours for the turbines—at about 2,500 feet AGL to coordinate ground fire-fighting units and air tankers that disperse fire-retardant chemicals on the blaze. Ponderosa's Commanders are equipped with special FM radios to communicate with ground crews and other aircraft.  In many cases a tactical trainee rides along in the cabin (the supervisor sits up front in the right seat) with a duplicate set of radios to use.  

In 2001 Leon Perry sold the business to the Hardy family, who had worked for Perry since 1993. They have expanded the business by acquiring a competitor, Spur Aviation Services, in Twin Falls, Idaho. They also have added a repair station and full-service avionics shop. The in-house avionics capability means the Commanders are superbly equipped with Garmin WAAS GPS systems, multifunction displays, terrain and traffic avoidance, electronic charts, and XM-delivered Nexrad weather radar.

When his father sold the company Shawn Perry left to fly for the airlines, but when the Hardys began expanding they asked him to come back. He agreed. “It was a good thing for me,” he says. “My heart and soul is here.”

In addition to flying air attack missions Perry is a check airman and he and Mikel Hardy train all of Ponderosa's and Spur's pilots—about 28 at the height of the summer fire-fighting season. Russel Hardy started the repair station and is director of maintenance. He also runs the avionics division. Mikel’s and Russel’s father, Gary Hardy, who helped his sons purchase the business, serves as Ponderosa’s chief pilot. All of the Hardy wives—Deanna, Joanna, and Ida—also are directly involved in the business. Finally, Leon Perry is back flying for Ponderosa at age 69.

Over the years Ponderosa has operated just about every model piston Commander built, including the 700. However, two models not found in the company's logbooks are the 520 and 560. Ponderosa's future will see more turbine Commanders on the line. “We like 690B,” Perry says. “That’s what we’re moving toward. We're slowly phasing out piston aircraft in favor of the 690B.”

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