Kansas-based Clemens Aviation is expanding its aircraft management and Part 135 business to Oklahoma City, owner Dwayne Clemens told AIN today. The company has secured a hangar at Wiley Post Airport (PWA) and just trained its first Oklahoma City-based flight crew. Its sales will be led by Gary Purdum, a former Raytheon Aircraft colleague of Clemens. “We decided just from the requests of customers and people down there, and the sales guys, to go south,” Clemens explained. “The ultimate goal is...to have our own facility [in Oklahoma City] like we do here.”

In the next couple of weeks, Clemens Aviation will move one of its 14 Beechjet 400As from its base at Lloyd Stearman Field Airport (1K1) northeast of Wichita to PWA. It will be followed by a second Beechjet that is currently undergoing refurbishment, including installation of Garmin G5000 avionics and winglets. “We’re starting up with two and then we’ll continue to grow as many as we can get,” he said. “We hope to get between 10 and 15 like we have here.”

With a growing fleet of Beechjets, Clemens thinks it was time to expand to a new market. “We still sell shares here and there, but for the size of Wichita and 14 Beechjets—we have over 60 owners in our program here—we have quite a few [aircraft] for the size of town we’re in,” he added.

Founded in 2003, Clemens Aviation operates an FBO and provides maintenance at 1K1. The company also manages the fleet of Beechjets that are owned by individuals or partnerships, which are also used to provide charter services. Each out-of-production Beechjet that Clemens Aviation takes in gets a new cabin interior, G5000 avionics, and winglets. Its managed fleet also includes Beechcraft King Airs, a Beech Baron, Hawker 800XPs, and a Bombardier Challenger 601.