Contact Us: 316.684.1540 gpv@gplains.com Contact Sitemap Management Careers News Contact Aerospace Systems and Components Celebrates 50 Year Anniversary March 10, 2019 3-24-1968 March 24, 1968 Charlie & Pat Peer welcome their third child, Jon. 4-1-1968 April 1, 1968 Charlie lost his job at Learjet, stories vary whether he quit or was terminated. 5-1-1968 May 1, 1968 Charlie had dreamed of starting a business for years, losing his job was his motivation. He started ASC in the basement of his apartment. By June 1, he had hired his first employee. 1968 1968 Charlie received his first order for an H-Valve from Learjet. Learjet had forty no bids. ASC was the only company to submit a bid. Because Charlie was a former employee of Learjet, RB Sullivan, Materials Manager, went to management for an exception. The exception was granted and buyer, Les Weirich, placed ASC’s first order. 1968 1968 Two months after receiving their first order, ASC moved to it’s new home at 5532 W Central, a strip mall with a laundromat, real estate office and a bar. 1969 1969 Incorporation paperwork was filed on February 28, 1969, and on March 1 the first directors meeting was held. 1971 1971 Ken Rix, a coworker from Charlie’s days at Learjet also found himself without a job and was willing to work for an IOU. Ken, his wife Mary Ann and Paul Miller invested a total of $10,000 in ASC to provide capital. 1971 1971 Lyle Koontz was a sales engineer with GE and refused a transfer to the East Coast leaving him unemployed. He and Charlie had worked together on a project together during Charlie’s Beech days. Lyle joined ASC to market the new farm products. He also worked for an IOU. 1971 1971 A downturn in the aviation market had ASC scrambling for new products. The farm market was strong, so they developed prototypes of an evaporative cooler and fuel transfer pump. They took those prototypes to the 3i Show and came back with orders and money. 1971 1971 GPI becomes a separate company. 1972 1972 With a need for more products, ASC partnered with Jack Kelly of Value Engineered Products out of California. VEP brought new product designs. The 506-1, 713-1 and 717 are still active part numbers today. 1973 1973 Demand for solenoid valves was high, and suppliers became bottlenecked. ASC designed and began manufacturing solenoid 5501 in house. 1974 1974 Big Beech Motor 26501 – Legend has it that this motor was an improved design to replace the GE motor Lyle Koontz sold to Beech when Charlie was designing the air conditioning system for the King Air. 1976 1976 Les Weirich became ASC’s first General Manager. 1979 1979 ASC added in-house machining with the purchase of a Hardinge HC Super Precision Chucker. 1982 1982 The first Environmental Test Chamber was purchased by ASC. It made it possible for ASC to demonstrate that new products would satisfy FAA certification requirements (environmental extremes) by simulation in the lab before test flight. 1983 1983 Ken Seaman was hired as Marketing Manager and in 1985, became Vice President/General Manager. In 1988, Ken was promoted to President/General Manager. 1987 1987 ASC implements its first CAD software, Crossroads. To operate the software required a purchase of an IBM PC at a cost of $7,500. 1990 1990 ASC developed and patented a three piece carbon ring design. This improved contamination resistance on gate valves as well as other products. 1990 1990 ASC designed and built its first non-aviation products, Mack Truck pneumatically controlled butterfly valves, part numbers 1405-3, 1406-4, and 1407-7. 1997 1997 The introduction of inventory cycle counting led to the elimination of the need for an annual inventory. 1999 1999 ASC Quality Assurance Department purchases its first Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM). 2001 2001 In an attempt to diversify its product line, ASC introduced a line of specialty seats including these Observer Seats. 2003 2003 ASC received its first AS9100 Certification. 2007 2007 ASC received the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year award. 2007 2007 ASC introduced its first pressure regulating shut off valve (PRSOV), part number 1422-1 for the Citation IV. 2007 2007 ASC installed $640,000 in upgrades to its test facilities including an in-line air system, which added air compressor capacity, and the Brown Fired Heater, which allowed for testing at higher temperatures. 2008 2008 ASC Founder, Charles Peer, died. 2009 2009 The establishment of a quality clinic provided standard approaches to drive root cause analysis and the use of mistake proofing whenever possible to eliminate defects. This reduced defects and improved product quality. 2014 2014 ASC expanded its machine shop with purchase of a Doosan Multi-Axis Vertical Mill. 2015 2015 ASC was awarded its contract for its biggest, most complex package of valves ever done with 14 part numbers for the Cessna Citation Longitude. It was certified in 2018. 2016 2016 ASC designed its first motor operated valve for the Textron Scorpion, part number 1434-2. 2016 2016 ASC further expanded its machine shop with the purchase of a Mazak 5-Axis Integrex CNC. 2017 2017 ASC designed a fuel sender that improved reliability by the use of higher quality components than the incumbent supplier. 2018 2018 Eddie Morrison became President/General Manager 2018 2018 ASC’s innovative in-line sleeve valve, part number 7702-2, featured a patent pending ring design and a control section that can be tuned for specific locations for use throughout the aircraft. 2019 ASC Celebrates 50 Years S Prev s No Replies to "Aerospace Systems and Components Celebrates 50 Year Anniversary"