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Travel Articles
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The History of the Aircraft Wash Guys, Part One
By Lance Winslow
Blackpool Hotels I`ve had some memorable experiences in Blackpool over the years and when I was a young buck it would be a favourite party venue where I, along with a group of my mates, would enjoy the non-stop action. When you arrive in Blackpool you are greeted by the familiar seaside attractions that UK coastal resorts tend to offer and you are spoilt for choice for places to stay as there are countless guest houses and Blackpool Hotels to pick and choose from. I`ve actually lost count of the amount of Blackpool Hotels that I`ve stayed in both in the luxury and budget categories. In actual fact it`s perfectly possible to find a cracking bed and breakfast establishment that proves to be warm, welcoming and not too hard-hitting on the wallet. Many groups head to the Lancashire resort for hen or stag weekends and it`s easy to see why wwhen you take in the local nightlife and all of the fun activities that can be taken part in during the day. If you like kiss-me-quick hats, fish and chips, seafood and rock, bustling Blackpool should be one location that you put on your ?places to visit` list. The list of Blackpool Hotels that you can stay in is simply massive and they cater for everyone`s taste. Rv Rental Uk I`ve been lucky this year. I`ve already taken in the stunning scenery that Scotland, The Lake District and Devon has to offer and in each location I have longed to stay a little longer. Don`t get me wrong, I love heading off abroad on holiday and soaking up the sun. However, the UK has so many beautiful areas to explore and when the sun finally breaks through there can be no better place to spend some quality free time. My recent trip to Devon was all too short and I dearly wished that I could have spent a ffew weeks exploring the area then moving further south in Cornwall. It`s certainly something that I intend to do in the future and I might even consider an Rv Rental Uk as part of the holiday. I`ve never hired a motor home before but the latest Rv Rental Uk models are really appealing. A family of four can travel in style and there`ll be bags of room on the inside. Those who take part in the Rv Rental Uk will find they are travelling in a real home from home. A fixed rear double bed is provided as well as another double over the driver`s cab. I`ve been lucky on my travels within the UK this year and my next adventure on home soil will involve the use of a remarkable recreation vehicle. Go Underwater In Greece Try Scuba Diving In Paros There has never been a better time to go Diving In Paros with crystal clear blue water and improving sealife Diving In Paros has become very popular. Choose Diving In Paros as your next diving vacation.
However rarely do we study the makings and grass roots humble beginnings of niche franchise companies. This article is about the history of just such a company. It is intriguing to read how franchises occur naturally in free market systems. Below is the story of how the Aircraft Wash Guys wash founded and how they got started in the Aircraft Washing Business. Although there is tremendous data and written articles to back it up, the story is written from a fictional point of view and opinion, so we do not intend to try to prove anything to anyone, nor do we want to get the founders in any trouble for the fun of the past. We claim freedom of speech, of the press in its entirety since a good part of it is opinion based. This of course should be familiar to any of those who have read the history of McDonalds in Ray Kroc?s ?Grinding it Out? or Subway Sandwich Story; ?Start Small, finish Big.? The Aircraft Guys was not always called the Aircraft Wash Guys. The founder Mr. Lance Winslow`s original company at age 12 was Speedy Waxers. He stared with partners. Andrew Rice and Mark Daily, who father both owned aircraft too. In Lance`s family they had a Piper Colt, two-seater, which Lance had some 80 flying hours in. Andrew`s dad bought a Cessna 150 and Mark`s dad had Bellanca Decathlon and a Beech Bonanza. It was in the business of aircraft washing and waxing. Mark Daily became a businessman, Andrew Rice joined the Air Force. All three were in the Civil Air Patrol at the time. Andrew and Lance were also in the Boy Scout Aviation Explorers. Lance eventually came to own the business by himself and later sold this business to a friend, Glen Tierney, who was in the Junior ROTC. This was in 1979 at Camarillo Airport (CMA) in California near the Coast above Los Angeles. After selling Speedy Waxers, Lance went to work for a local McDonald`s as an employee, for Clay Passion, Franchisee, who owned a Beechcraft Debonair that Lance use to wash on a weekly basis. Clay was a long time customer and his office staff were Car Washing customers for at least a decade in Lance?s other company the Car Wash Guys; www.carwashguys.com . Clay promised Lance a quick advancement due to his previous business experience and aircraft washing loyalty. Lance was waiting for a turn to go into training to be an assistant manager. Meanwhile he read Ray Kroc`s book and studied every single manual and videotape in the place and how every single detail was accounted for. WOW, he thought, this is how you really do it, this is when Lance decided he would emulate Ray Kroc whenever he could. Glen Tierney later joined the Air Force five months later and left the business.Lance recontacted all the customers and went back into business under the name Aero Wash, and then set up more units at Santa Paula Airport, Van Nuys, Oxnard Airport and even got accounts in Santa Barbara. Back then we washed 135 aircraft per week at approximately $10.00 each. (Can you imagine those prices today?) Back then Lance thought he would try aircraft sales, however he was young and naive and nobody would give me a chance. He knew he would do well, he happen to know just about everyone at five different airports, contacts for sales would be a no-brainer. Not only was he young, but he was small for his age. It was hard enough to get people to let him wash their planes at age 12 let alone sell planes at age 15. So at 15 he formed an aircraft finders fee business and asked a commission for referring buyers. This was when the ITC-Investment tax credit was taken away, America was still in the energy crisis with high fuel prices and luxury tax law went into affect the next year and killed General Aviation. We still had the aircraft washing business, but Lance now armed with a driver`s license at sixteen knew no limits. He started washing fleets for utility companies, California Highway Patrol, Post Office Jeeps, anything. At the time we had several Independent contractors we called "franchisees." Of course at the time Lance didn`t really understand the total extent of what franchising was, he understood McDonald`s and attention to details, but was only starting to grasp what he would some day become. Lance was winning in the market in the middle of the recession, he said we do not participate in recessions. We are good at the down times too, we have been there and we won and we understand the market and the sectors we are in. Here are some articles in the beginning. www.carwashguys.com/history/beginning.html www.carwashguys.com/history/hist2.html www.carwashguys.com/history/hist3.html www.carwashguys.com/history/museum2.shtml www.carwashguys.com/history/museum3.shtml www.carwashguys.com/history/museum6.shtml Lance started a company he called Speedy Aircraft Finders. As part of this business he started the first Aircraft Multi-Listing Service, which was online. Although the Internet was not really being used yet and TRS 80`s were just hitting the market. He used dumb terminals and watts lines to send aircraft brokers updated listings. He sold approximately 40 or so aircraft back then and assisted other brokers in doing the same. He took on two partners and later they were able to squeeze lance out of the pattern. Two years later one of the gentleman later went to prison for embezzlement when he sold the same aircraft to three people, the other reprimanded on another deal and eventually lost everything. Lance after being forced to sell his third of the business went to work for Air Camarillo and started the Aircraft Sales Department determined to out-sell those gentlemen. He did and everyone else too. Although he really did not like to do sales, he loved to fly the aircraft for sale. Sometimes he would insist that every buyer fly every single aircraft on the line for sale and many that Lance had brokered agreements, before they were allowed to make and offer, sign a conditional sales contract or buy an airplane. Thus Lance got more flying time in lots of cool aircraft and he doubts he ever had an unhappy customer, they always gave referrals and always came back. It was through this high volume of sales that Mira Slovak, a famous Russian Defector during the Cold War, came to Lance with a proposition to help him sell Partnavias. An Italian Built Aircraft, which Mira had the North American rights to sell. Lance became a dealer for that brand too. One day Mira shows up in an Italian Bi-Plane and asks Lance if he wants to go for a ride. Lance says sure. Lance and Mira Slovak inventor of the aircraft maneuver the Lumshovak, fly to 300 AGL and do the inverted snap roll entry cartwheel and tumble through the sky. Lance was then hooked on aerobatics. There was a time when if Lance could not cage the gyros and in a plane so he could do a spin or a barrel roll or in aerobatic aircraft do a loop or tail slide he just wouldn`t fly. He got over that quick enough, sometimes it gives you a real head ache. End Part I 
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