Editor's note: This story was published in Grand Traverse Business magazine's Fall 2017 issue. For more stories from the magazine, click here to read GT Business in its entirety online.

TRAVERSE CITY — Michael Terfehr can fly just about anything with wings, and a few things without them.

Socata TBM 850? Check. AS-350 helicopter? Check. Cessna 185F float plane? Check.

L-39 Albatros fighter jet? Check.

"That's just something for me," Terfer said the president and chief pilot of 45 North Aviation inside his office along Airport Access Road, close to the shadow of the air traffic control tower at Cherry Capital Airport. "That's my toy. I have authorization for the FAA to do flight training in it.

"I can't do rides. Unless you're a pilot and want to get formal flight training in the aircraft, then I can do that."

Passengers may not be able to get a lift in an aircraft that is "a unique blend of Soviet-style simplicity and Czechoslovakian-style Western technology," but 45 North can handle pretty much every other aviation need. Charters and tours are offered, as well as aerial photography and video, drone services, external load transportation, aerial signs, power and gas line patrols.

"I have this ongoing joke that if you need to be rescued, call the Coast Guard," Terfehr said. "If you need an evac, call North Flight. And if you need anything else, call us."

That variety is what drives Terfehr, who spoke between flights on a mid-September weekday, not long after working in Miami before Hurricane Irma.

"We do a lot of different stuff," he said. "It's not your daily, 'Fly A, B, C and D and you're done for the day.' We do unique and interesting things. Every day it's something different, something new.

"One day I'm down in Florida evacuating people and the next day I'm flying a helicopter down to a private ranch in central Michigan and the next day I'm flying a float plane. It's neat."

The flying bug bit Terfehr at an early age.

"I've been flying since I was 14," he said. "I soloed on my 16th birthday and got my license on my 17th birthday."

Terfehr took a more circular route to Traverse City. He flew corporate jets worldwide and worked for one of the largest private airlines — Ohio-based NetJets — when he vacationed in Traverse City.

"I came here to visit in '12 and I started this in '13," he said of his charter business.

Terfehr first acquired TC Helicopters. He later purchased Cherry Capital Aviation and Cherry Capital Flight and then "rebranded the whole thing as 45 North Aviation."

He has a staff of 12 full-time and another "six to seven" part-time employees at 45 North Aviation. There are nine pilots altogether on staff. Terfehr said he could use more pilots.

"I've been going non-stop since May (with charters)," he said. "I haven't been able to catch my breath. I have airplanes flying every day, pretty much. It's busy."

Justin Patterson, the director of business development for the aerospace division of Skilled Manufacturing, said his company uses 45 North Aviation two or three times a month. Patterson said an hour flight versus a 5½-hour one-way drive to Chicago makes a huge difference.

"It saves a lot of employee time," Patterson said. "We can go down and back in a day instead of having to stay over and make it a multiple-day event. It's a lot less fatigue for the employees. We can go down for a meeting, come back the same day and still be home for dinner."

Helicopter tours account for about 5 percent of the business. The company has several tour options available including sunset, bayview and Suttons Bay tours. Terfehr also is working on "helicopter wine tours" for the future.

There also are float plane tours of Frankfort, Arcadia Bluffs, Bay Harbor and Big Bay De Noc. Another future goal for Terfehr is daily float plane service from Traverse City to Mackinac Island.

But it's all based around Traverse City, which Terfehr said was "under-served from an aviation standpoint" when he landed in 2013.

"I love it here," Terfehr said. "This town is the coolest thing I've ever seen — and I've traveled all over the world."

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