Well then you should check out SkyView Aviation. SkyView Aviation started at the Hayward Executive Airport near San Francisco, a little over 12 years ago. It is owned by Swedish American Richard Ortenheim, long time member of SACC-SF/SV. “I’ve been in the United States for 20 years now so I almost feel more American than Swedish now days, but I still have family in Sweden and try to visit at least once a year,” he says. “I’ve been an SACC-SF/SV member from many years now. In the beginning it was mainly for business contacts, but as time went by I realized SACC can offer a variation of contacts not only business related," Richard continues.
In early 2008, SkyView moved its operations to the Tracy Municipal Airport in order to expand business. One of the main focuses for the expansion was to open the manufacturing facility for the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) called the Skylark. The Skylark used to be manufactured in the Czech Republic, but recently Ortenheim took over that contract and is bringing the manufacturing facility to the United States. He has been working closely with the Skylark’s Canadian designer David Marsden and has introduced several refinements to the airplane, dubbing it the Skylark II. Changes include a larger canopy, full-span flaperons, a glass panel, autopilot, and fairing enhancements. According to Ortenheim, “LSA’s are the next big thing!” You only need a Sport Pilot license to fly the Skylark. He adds, “The most desired reason for becoming a Sport Pilot is you do not need a medical, and the Federal Aviation Administration only requires a total minimum of 20 hours of flight training to obtain a license.”
Today SkyView Aviation has 15 full- and part-time employees. Richard expects those numbers to rise significantly in the next couple years. SkyView offers a wide variety of services, not only the manufacturing of the Skylark, but also flight training, and the import and export of various airplanes and helicopters to locations worldwide. Included in all this is a fully operational maintenance facility, aircraft sales, and scenic tours.
Ortenheim also has big plans for the Tracy Airport itself. He is working on building a restaurant and conference room out of a 747 fuselage and would like to get the runway expanded so business jets could land and take off from the airport. There are also plans underway to turn their PART 61 flight training course into a PART 141, which is a fully operational flight school with international students. “If you have not been flying the smaller airplanes, you should! Nothing compares to the exhilaration of flying!”

Contact – SkyView Aviation
5749 South Tracy Blvd
Tracy, CA 95377
209 – 830 - 7666
Info@SkyViewAviation.com

Eric Röde Olsen