Our History
Since 1938, Columbia Aircraft Services has been dedicated to providing the highest quality repair and overhaul work, with exceptional customer service, across the USA and around the globe.
Columbia Aircraft Services is located at the Bloomsburg Municipal Airport, allowing customers to fly in, if so desired. We are an FAA-approved Repair Station and are equipped with a comprehensive machine shop on-site. Our staff comprises master mechanics and machinists, enabling us to perform most all necessary services in-house.
From 1966 through 1983, Columbia Aircraft Services overhauled hundreds of GO-480 engines used by the U.S. Army in Queen Airs, Helo Curriers, Twin Beechcrafts, and Bonanza D-50s. During the same 17-year period, CAS employed dozens of personnel, working a two-shift day. Around this time, Columbia Aircraft Services began contracting with Lycoming Engines and Continental Engine Companies to overhaul alternators, magnetos, and carburetors.
The Bloomsburg airport, N13, was also a seaplane base until 1972. Planes would land on the Susquehanna River and tie up at a mooring alongside the concrete boat house, which still stands today.
In 1978, Mobil Oil Company selected Columbia Aircraft Service’s engine test cell to perform a required 500-hour continuous engine run for the approval of one of its engine oils used in airplanes. Columbia is only one of a handful of approved engine repair stations that has an FAA-approved aircraft engine test cell.
In 2017, Columbia Aircraft Services successfully sponsored a recipient of the Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The recipient served his entire career at Columbia Aircraft Services.
The Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award is an award presented by the US FAA in honor of Charles Taylor, the first aviation mechanic in powered flight. The award recognizes the lifetime accomplishments of senior aviation mechanics. Taylor served as the Wright brothers’ mechanic and is credited with designing and building the engine for their first successful aircraft. This award celebrates the body of work of an eligible recipient, requiring at least 50 years of aviation maintenance work in good standing. It has been a very prestigious award since its inception.
In June 2024, Karl E. George received the Charles E. Taylor Master Mechanic Award. Karl’s entire career has been with Columbia Aircraft Services. He remains an integral part of our team.
Today, Columbia Aircraft Services is a global entity, receiving and shipping engines and magnetos from as far away as England, Germany, Italy, Israel, Norway, South and Central America, Africa, Thailand (Royal Air Force), and Mexico.
