Azalea Aviation, LLC, a kit aircraft manufacturer and aircraft maintenance service provider, has moved to the Cook County Airport in March.The business, with CEO Bill Clapp and General Manager Kyoung Clapp, held a Spyder Corvair engine workshop March 10 to 12 at the company’s flight/maintenance facility at the airport. Azalea Aviation not only sells the engines, but also teaches customers how to convert a Corvair aircooled car engine for aviation use.
Azalea Aviation offers the Saberwing kit airplane, a cross-country airplane a customer can build in 500 to 1,000 hours. The plane is all composite/wood with simplicity and comfort in mind. The 700-pound fully fueled plane with a 100HP engine can reach a top speed of 100 mph and with a 120HP engine can reach a top speed of 195 mph.
The homebuilt experimental aircraft make the dream of flying “an approachable reality” for many more people, Clapp said. The Saberwing kit costs $25,500.
Azalea Aviation’s buildings at the airport include a 9,500-square-foot hangar that will be converted into the company’s manufacturing facility. The maintenance/flight facility and main offices are in an 8,000-square-foot facility facing the runway. Azalea Aviation plans to provide multiple services out of this facility, including A&P (Airframe and Powerplant) services and some flight training. So far, Azalea Aviation has sold six planes.
Clapp said the Cook County Airport offered a good fit for Azalea Aviation’s business model with the easy access of a smaller rural airport. The three-year-old business started out at the Valdosta Airport. Clapp thanked the Cook County Airport Authority for their trust and support.
Clapp has been passionate about airplanes ever since childhood, as a result of his father’s career as a missionary pilot who flew pastors in remote areas of Mexico, Colombia, Honduras, and Ecuador. The flights also occurred for a short time in Africa and Laos.
As an A&P mechanic and commercial pilot, Clapp has developed and designed many products over many years for Experimental aviation. In 1993, he received a Degree in Aviation from Moody Bible Institute’s Jungle Aviation program, previously based in Elizabethton, Tenn. His aviation credentials include a Commercial Pilot (SEL), Instrument, CFI, A&P, and Ground Instructor ratings. He worked as an A&P mechanic and flight instructor for many years. His experience in flying a variety of different aircraft has allowed him to act as test pilot for many “first flights” of experimental aircraft. His CFI experience comes in handy while transitioning many aircraft owners into flying their airplanes as well. He has built several aircraft and continues to do so. All the airplanes he has built flew with engines he personally built.
As Azalea Aviation’s general manager, Kyoung Clapp manages day-to-day operations and services. She is a graduate from Sookmyung University of South Korea with a Master’s Degree in English Literature and a graduate of Valdosta State University with a degree in accounting.
Each year, Clapp flies his own aircraft to major shows as a marketing tool, including Sun N Fun in Lakeland, Fla., and the Oshkosh, Wis., EAA Airventure (the world’s largest airshow attended by more than 1 million people).
When it comes to location, Cook County has it in spades, with all the advantages… ...read more 
People who live in one Southwest Georgia community can now save time and gas when… ...read more
SPARKS, GA - Celebrating the grand opening of Grimmway Farms’ new packing and warehouse center,… ...read more
