Surack Enterprises
Indiana-based operator flies Bombardier Global 6500 for corporate missions, and offers charter services using Cirrus Vision Jets and Pilatus PC-12s NGXs.
By Rafael Henríquez
Managing Editor
When Professional Pilot magazine last visited Chuck Surack and his team in northern Indiana (Pro Pilot, March 2019, p 28), the company was on its way to becoming an aviation powerhouse in the Midwest, offering helicopter charter services, flight instruction, aircraft maintenance, and aviation insurance, and operating a Bombardier Challenger 300 for business purposes.
Five years later, Surack Enterprises’ footprint in aviation has expanded to include fixed-wing charter flights using various Cessna Citation jets, Cirrus Vision Jet SF50s, and Pilatus PC-12 NGX turboprops.
The expansion also includes the recent acquisition of a new Bombardier Global 6500, which covers executive travel needs. And with a larger aircraft, a new hangar is being built at the company’s FWA (Intl, Fort Wayne IN) base.
In addition, Surack Enterprises purchased Enstrom Helicopter Corp, based in Menominee MI. “I was able to buy the manufacturer out of bankruptcy with zero employees,” explains Surack Enterprises Founder & CEO Chuck Surack. “Two and a half years after the acquisition, we have about 165 employees. We have clients in South America and Japan, and we’re on the final stages of getting the certifications that will allow us to sell Enstroms in the US.”
Founder and innovator
Chuck Surack is the founder and CEO of Surack Enterprises. His passion for innovation and his relentless pursuit of excellence led him to follow a career in the audio production industry, eventually establishing his first business in the early 1980s.
It was a recording studio that he set up in the back of his Volkswagen bus. “I started a company called Sweetwater Sounds 45 years ago,” Surack relates. “Although I sold the majority of the business about 3 years ago, I’m busier than I’ve ever been.
Now I own many more businesses, including apartment complexes, aviation insurance, a nightclub, and 6 optical stores – and I’m having a lot of fun doing it.”
Surack’s passion for aviation began when he was a young boy, when he would fly in his father’s Aeronca Chief. Later in life, he had the opportunity to purchase a flight activity.
“More than 10 years ago, someone came to me and asked if I’d be interested in buying a flight school,” he says. “And it wasn’t that much money. Their asking price was basically the value of the airplanes. So I thought I could clean up the business and dive into aviation.” And that was the beginning of Sweet Aviation.
Shortly after, Surack started to refresh the fleet with newer aircraft, now offering charter flights. “We started buying Diamond DA20s and DA42s,” he says. “We also bought several Cirrus SR20s and SR22s.” He continues, “I knew people would pay a little extra to fly newer aircraft, so I kept buying Cirrus planes, eventually adding a new Cirrus Vision Jet SF50 to the fleet.”
In his role as CEO, Surack is responsible for strategic planning and oversight of all company operations. His qualifications and extensive experience in business management have been instrumental in shaping Surack Enterprises’ innovative approach to aviation.
Flight operations
Under the Surack Enterprises umbrella, Sweet Aviation is a certified Part 135 Air Carrier and Operator, Part 141 Training Center, and Part 145 Repair Station.
The company flies a varied fleet of business aircraft, including Cessna Citation XLS+, XLS, Encore+, and Encore, plus 2 Cirrus Vision Jet SF50s and 3 Pilatus PC-12s.
Sweet Helicopters is the rotary-wing side of the operation, catering to both charter services and private aviation needs. The company uses Airbus H130s and a Leonardo AW109 for executive transport, private tours, sporting events, real estate surveys, environmental studies, and aerial photography and video.
The company also provides medical transport using a pair of Airbus AS365 Dauphines and a Leonardo AW169.
Regardless of the nature of each individual flight, Surack promotes a customer-centric approach, aiming to provide unparalleled convenience and efficiency for clients.
Part 91 operations
VP of Aviation Tim Edmonds joined Surack Enterprises in March 2013. He started his aviation career in the US Army, and has been flying for 43 years.
Edmonds is approaching 12,000 flight hours, and holds ATP, CFII, and Helo licenses, and used to be the chief pilot at Sweet Helicopters. He is now in charge of corporate flight operations flying the recently acquired Bombardier Global 6500.
The Global 6500 is based at Surack Enterprises’ FWA base. The company currently rents hangar space from Fort Wayne Aero Center, but it’s expected to relocate within a year to its own hangar. “We’re building a 40,000 sq ft hangar facility with 2 bays and 3500 sq ft of offices space,” Edmond explains. “The new complex should be up and running in June 2025.” In addition to hangar space, Fort Wayne Aero Center provides pull in/out, deicing, and fueling services for Surack aircraft.
The Part 91 flight department is relatively new, so it still is a 3-men operation. The team members are Edmonds, Chief Pilot Chad Grabau, and Global Director of Maintenance Jonathan Capper. “Grabau and I went to CAE in Montreal for training as part of the Global acquisition process,” says Edmonds. Hiring extra pilots is not in the company’s plans for now. “If we need somebody else, we’ll use contract pilots,” he adds.
Chief Pilot Chad Grabau manages the day-to-day operations in the flight department, taking care of scheduling, doing aircraft prep work, and coordinating maintenance-related duties with Capper.
“Pilot scheduling is not that complicated,” he explains. “Since it’s only a 2-pilot operation, we’re pretty much on call 24/7. But Chuck (Surack) is good about scheduling flights well in advance. He’ll put in trip requests up to 9 months out, so it’s extremely rare for us to get less than a week notice.”
While pilot and aircraft scheduling is fairly easy, flight planning takes a little more time, but Grabau has all the support he needs from different providers.
“For trips in the US, we normally turn to either FltPlan.com or ForeFlight,” he says. “And if we’re traveling abroad, we use a combination of vendors. We go to Universal Weather and Aviation for all of our international handling, and we use ARINCDirect for the flight planning part of the operation.”
“We fly the typical corporate missions,” says Edmonds. “We take the boss to business meetings and trade shows, like NBAA-BACE, VAI’s Verticon, and others from the music industry. We travel to the continental US for meetings related to Enstrom and to visit different vendors, such as Cirrus in Knoxville TN and Pilatus in Denver CO. We also fly to the Caribbean regularly, and make occasional trips to Europe.”
Grabau adds, “We’ve been to England and Italy so far, but I’m sure that the scope of international destinations will broaden as we keep operating the Global.”
When arriving at their destination, the pilots use CAA member FBOs. Edmonds says, “When visiting New York, for example, we fly into TEB (Teterboro NJ) and use Meridian–now Signature. We have also worked with Sheltair and Million Air over the years.”
Maintenance
Jon Capper has been in aviation for 17 years. He worked as maintenance manager for SkyWest Airlines before joining Surack Enterprises in March 2023.
His résumé also includes experience with Duncan Aviation BTL (Battle Creek MI). “I started my career in aircraft maintenance while in high school,” he says. “When I graduated high school, I already had my powerplant license. And by the time I was 19, I had my A&P.”
Capper uses CAMP for maintenance scheduling and tracking. He performs light maintenance work on the Global, and coordinates with Edmonds to find shops to take care of heavier maintenance events.
For bigger inspections, he goes directly to Bombardier, although the company has had a long-standing relationship with – and occasionally uses – Duncan Aviation. “While working at Duncan, I actually took care on Surack Enterprises’ Bombardier Challenger 300 before they bought it,” relates Capper.
The Global 6500 was purchased new from Bombardier, so all systems are protected by OEM warranties. “There’s a lot of things to keep track of, but we have field reps for each aircraft component,” says Capper. “We work closely with Bombardier for frame related issues, Rolls-Royce for engines, and Collins Aerospace for avionics.”
Capper continues, “Our Global is in perfect condition. Before we acquired it, the plane was flown around the world by the Bombardier demo team. The nice thing about this is that the manufacturer had the chance to get all the bugs worked out before the jet was delivered.”
Charter
Sweet Aviation General Manager Joel Pierce’s is ATP/CFII-certified with more than 6500 flight hours, and has multiple duties. He is the director of operations for Surack Enterprises’ Part 135 charter operation, and serves as the chief flight instructor for the Part 141 flight school activity. “While most of the time I’m in meetings, interviewing staff, or doing a little marketing work, I also have the occasional pleasure of flying a charter trip.”
Recently, Surack Enterprises bought a couple of companies based at GSH (Goshen IN) – a charter activity that came with 3 jets, and a Part 145 Repair Station/Garmin dealership, with 32 employees. The company is working toward merging the recently acquired charter provider to work under a single Part 135 certificate. The Sweet Aviation fleet now includes Cirrus Vision Jet SF50s, Pilatus PC-12 NGXs, and a variety of Cessna Citation jets.
Sweet Aviation pilots go to FlightSafety for training. They also use the Cirrus training center in Knoxville TN. “Cirrus has its own training center, so our Vision Jets pilots go there. We have a broad variety of vendors that we use for all our training,” remarks Edmonds.
Conclusion
Surack Enterprises stands out as a leading business aircraft operator. The company’s flight activities currently has 37 aircraft and 82 employees in 4 locations across Indiana. Under Chuck Surack’s leadership and the dedication of Tim Edmonds, Chad Grabau, Jon Capper, and Joel Pierce, the company continues to evolve, adapting to the dynamic needs of the aviation industry. Their vision emphasizes customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and safety, which have become the cornerstones of the company’s ethos. Their passion for aviation and commitment to excellence continue to drive Surack Enterprises forward, ensuring it remains a leader in the industry.