OSKALOOSA — It is anticipated at Monday’s Airport Commission meeting they will offer the Oskaloosa Municipal Airport manager and fixed based operator contract to Jerry Strunk, of Ottumwa.

Strunk, in a recent conversation, said he would be at the meeting and would accept the job to become the new manager and FBO, replacing Bill Patterson. And from all indications, he already has plans for a series of improvements and events designed to make flying fun again.

The first plan of business is to clean up the airport and make it more presentable to the public, Strunk said.

“I’ve always had the contention that an airport is the city’s front door and it is its back door,” Strunk said. “And sometimes, sometimes, the people who fly into here for the first time and meet the operator and/or the FBO, that will be their first impression and maybe the only person they may meet in that town. And it might be the last person they meet in that town when they get ready to leave.”

Other improvements include painting new lines in the tie-down areas and in front of the hangers, signs for the gas pump area, more lights around the buildings and other general improvements.

Beyond the appearance of the facility and the operator, a lot of the success of the airport hinges on service.

“You’ve got to remember one thing: All you have to sell is service,” Strunk said. “We’ve got local pilots here. You’ve got to cater to those guys.”

In an effort to make flying fun again, Strunk has planned several events he hopes will make local pilots want to climb back into the cockpit and go somewhere.

“I have a philosophy that anybody that owns an airplane, they bought that airplane for a reason, to go places and have fun,” Strunk said. “And the thing about it is, get the people out to flying, make it affordable.”

To help make flying fun and affordable, Strunk said he wants to have fuel discount days, where airplane pilots would be able to save up to 25 cents per gallon on aviation fuel. He also wants to have fly outs, wash the plane weekends and other activities. Strunk hopes these and other incentives will get the pilots out and about.

“And I think anybody that has an airplane loves to fly their airplane,” Strunk said. “They love to go places. It’d be kind of nice if they have a reason.”

Besides the several improvements and events he has planned, Strunk also brings with him the ability to overhaul engines, do general maintenance like oil changes and annuals, and aircraft refurbishing. Through his company, Midwest Aviation Service Inc., Strunk also offers aircraft sales, consultations, appraisals and pilot services.

Strunk, a native Ottumwan, has a long history in aeronautics. One of his early jobs was with the Ottumwa Municipal Airport as a lineman in 1956. Four years later, he was attending Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Okla., where he earned his airframe and power plant mechanics license. All told, Strunk has been a lineman, worked for several aviation companies, a corporate and charter pilot, mechanic and captain of an airline, besides owning Midwest Aviation Service Inc. and now his newest career at the Oskaloosa Airport.

Midwest Aviation Service Inc. was started at the Ottumwa Airport in 1948. Strunk and Harold Murphy purchased Midwest Aviation in 1968. In 1977, Strunk bought Murphy out and then in 1984, he sold the assets of the company but kept the corporate name.

Herald Staff Writer Michael Schaffer can be reached by email at mschaffer@oskyherald.com