McCulloch International Airlines

The airline was created from Vance International Airways (VIA), an earlier supplemental air carrier, and from the aviation activities of Robert P. McCulloch, an entrepreneur (still known for the eponymous chainsaw brand he developed) and industrialist who flew potential customers to see new communities he was developing, most notably Lake Havasu City.

Starting in January 1964,[1] McCulloch flew prospective buyers to Lake Havasu for free using a fleet of Lockheed Constellations and then Electras as an uncertificated carrier.

At the time MPI sought to purchase VIA, it was flying potential customers from Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Denver, Phoenix, Dallas, Long Beach, Oakland, Houston, Portland, Spokane, and Seattle.

[5] New ownership made an immediate difference, as 1971 MIA revenues were over 20 times the level of Vance International in the late 1960s.

McCulloch Properties wanted to step back and allow MIA to develop a third party business by re-equipping with jets.

[14] Unfortunately, FGH found the environment, coming out of the 1973–1975 recession, hostile relative to the aim of reequipping with new/newer aircraft, and was forced to rely on the Electras.

[15] A year later, the CAB approved the takeover of the remains of MIA by a company called Inomotivator (comprising three lawyers), but nothing came of that.

[18] The US Civil Aircraft Register for July 1970 shows McCulloch Properties owning three Lockheed L-049 Constellations (N6000C,[19] N90823,[20] N90931[20]) and five Electras (N6106A,[21] N6118A,[22] N6130A,[23] N6131A,[24] N6132A[24]).

From 1964 to 1978, MPI promotional flights (including those, from November 1970, flown by MIA) to Lake Havasu City totalled 2,702.