VAI Member Spotlight is a free service that VAI provides its small-business members to help increase their visibility. If your company would like to be considered for a VAI Member Spotlight, please sign up here. Not a member? Join VAI and start enjoying the many benefits our members receive! VAI Member Spotlight: Start Pac, Nevada, USA Family-owned business provides jump-starting and other services for owners and operators of aircraft, including helicopters. When Michael Franck tried to start his Heli-Lynx AS355FX2 for a recent live sports aerial filming job in San Francisco, California, nothing happened beyond the “tick, tick, tick” sound of an attempted start. The battery had drained just enough power since his morning flight to the point where it couldn’t start the helicopter later in the day. Another pilot made a quick run to the trailer for Franck’s Smart Pac handheld aircraft engine starter. With the starter plugged in, the engine jumped to life and Franck was soon on his way in time to film the beginning of the event. Developed to Meet a Need It was exactly this kind of situation that led to the birth of Start Pac as a company. In 1997, retired commercial pilot Jim Wurth—who also holds an aeronautical engineering degree from the University of California, Berkeley—took his MD 500 on a camping trip into the remote Arizona desert, 60 miles from civilization. The nighttime temperatures dropped below freezing, which left the engine cold-soaked and unable to start in the morning. Without another option, Wurth had to wait until the sun heated the aircraft before taking off. The experience gave him an idea. After searching for a portable helicopter start kit without having any luck, he designed his own. Company Growth Jim Wurth founded Start Pac with the help of his business-minded wife, Judith. He wasn’t alone in wanting a lightweight portable starting unit. The company sold 11 units before the end of its first year nearly three decades ago and has only grown since. The couple found that other industries had a similar need. The company quickly expanded into the business-jet market, the oil-and-gas sector, and even the locomotive industry. “We were contacted by BNSF Railway in 2006 or 2007, and they said they heard we made jump starters for helicopters and business jets. Could we make something to jump-start a locomotive?” explains Smart Pac CEO Eve Storm. “We had a prototype to them in 30 days and they bought something like 50 units that first year.” Storm, who is Judith’s daughter and Jim’s stepdaughter, became CEO in 2018 and continues to expand the company as a family-based business. Start Pac designed and manufactures most of the 75 products it offers across multiple industries, including for its aviation division. Beyond Starters In addition to its line of portable and mobile lead-acid and lithium starters, Start Pac sells power supplies, ground power units, and accessories for its products. These include trailers, battery float charger and maintenance units, extension cords and Y connectors, and its BOSS air system, a mobile HVAC unit capable of delivering 23,400 BTU of refrigerated air for precooling aircraft. The starters are available in ranges from 12 volts to 28 volts DC and 210 amps. Built around a philosophy that the customer comes first, Start Pac currently serves over 7,000 customers across more than 130 countries. The company continues to grow into markets that include military and autonomous vehicle support. Jen Boyer is a journalist and marketing communicator specializing in aviation. She holds commercial, instrument, flight instructor, and instrument instructor ratings in helicopters and a private rating in airplanes.
