B-J Aviation, Inc.

Collection

Identifier: RHC-RC-310

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of records from professors Robert LaConto and Jack Bennett’s business dealings regarding a Cessna aircraft for training purposes and creation of aviation companies at the DeKalb Taylor Municipal Airport. Records deal with the men’s acquisition, lease, and sale of a Cessna 150 plane. The collection is arranged chronologically from 1979-1990 and includes articles of incorporation and initial meeting minutes, lease and rental agreements of the Cessna 150, maintenance and modifications made to the plane, financial, tax and insurance records, correspondence, dissolution of the company and sale of the aircraft.

Dates

created: 1979-1990
Other: Date acquired: 04/00/2010

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on access to the collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Property rights in the collection belong to the Regional History Center. Literary rights are dedicated to the public.

Biographical or Historical Information

Journalism professor Robert LaConto and biology professor Jack Bennett, both retired from NIU in 1990, recognized that the flight school at Taylor Municipal Airport was in need of a proper training aircraft. The plane they acquired in 1984 was subsequently managed by aviation companies created by the two men and leased to the commercial Fixed Base Operator (FBO), known as Kishwaukee Aviation, at Taylor airport. After two years of the agreement, Kishwaukee Aviation went into bankruptcy. The new FBO, Northern Illinois Aviation, was not interested in renting the plane from B-J Aviation and therefor the Cessna was sold to a man operating out the Beloit, Wisconsin regional airport. Additional information is available in folder 2, in a document titled “The B-J Aviation Story.”

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