OUT OF OFFICE • LOU SENO
Flying the Bonanza
In the second of our series exploring how private passions pay off in business, we strap into a Beechcraft Bonanza with industry veteran Lou Seno in the left-hand seat. Words: Mike Stones
Lou Seno with his beloved Beechcraft Bonanza F-33A wearing JSSI colours at Oshkosh 2025.
OUT OF OFFICE • LOU SENO
Flying the Bonanza
In the second of our series exploring how private passions pay off in business, we strap into a Beechcraft Bonanza with industry veteran Lou Seno in the left-hand seat. Words: Mike Stones
Lou Seno with his beloved Beechcraft Bonanza F-33A wearing JSSI colours at Oshkosh 2025.
“As a pilot, you have a better understanding of the asset and related topics such as aircraft maintenance.”
WHEN LOU Seno flew into aviation heaven – otherwise known as the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Wisconsin – in July, it must have seemed like flying home. The latest journey, with Seno at the controls of the family’s Beechcraft Bonanza, marked his 70th consecutive visit after first touring the event with his father in 1956 (the year President Eisenhower was re-elected).
Seno learnt the benefits of business aviation early. His father, an avid pilot and World War Two veteran, faced either a four-hour drive or a one-hour flight to visit the family chain of tuxedo rental stores in southern Illinois, south of Chicago during the 1960s and 1970s. Unsurprising, journeys were made most often in the family’s A36 Beechcraft Bonanza – many times with the young Lou in the right-hand seat.
The flights helped to forge a love affair with the Beechcraft Bonanza that has helped to propel Seno’s career to the top tier of business aviation within organisations such as Boeing Capital Corporation, Jet Support Services, Inc (JSSI), National Aircraft Finance Association (NAFA) and, more recently, as the executive director of International Dealers Aircraft Association (IADA). No less significant, it was a 1960s Beechcraft Bonanza that took Seno and Christine, his then girlfriend, now wife, on their second date.
The latest family Bonanza wears the distinctive blue and white livery of JSSI, reflecting Seno’s position as chairman emeritus of the organisation. The aircraft starred on JSSI’s booth at the event, which draws aviation fans from worldwide.
EAA Air Venture Oshkosh goes off with a bang.
So, what is it about the Bonanza that has commanded Seno’s affections for so long? And how has this 70-year aviation love affair paid off in his working life? The G36 Bonanza – the latest version of the piston engine aircraft, which first flew in 1947 sporting its signature V-tail – cruises at 203mph (326km/hr) and has a range of 920nm. Seno’s aircraft is an older model, but hardly less lively.
The aircraft has a magic that has enthralled Seno for more than seven decades. “I always wanted a Bonanza. There is just this lure about Beechcraft – it's such a well-built, quality product. It has an almost a cult-like following, which attracts a certain kind of mindset.”
But not just any Bonanza – specifically the Bonanza F-33A, “I always liked the model F33, which has a shorter fuselage than other models and four seats with an option for a fifth jump seat,” explains Seno. “The F33 handles better and is a little faster than some models but went out of production in 1994.” He managed to acquire a late model, in original condition, previously owned by a doctor. The aircraft, registration N89LS, is powered by a Continental IO550 delivering 300 horsepower, which will “allow the airplane to fly at 200mph all day”.
After an avionics upgrade, new paint and new interior, Seno flies it “religiously” for most of his personal flying, logging well over 100 hours a year. Typical Bonanza missions include flights from his Michigan lakeside summer home, near Harbour Springs, to JSSI board meetings near Chicago. (He still misses the closure of Meigs Field, shut after 9/11). Or local hops to Grand Rapids, Michigan to support an aviation high school in the area. A longer flight is the winter migration to Florida. “The Bonanza is fun to fly and I don't want to sit in a car for five or six hours for personal or business trips,” he says. “So, I’ve used the airplane as a business tool for the trips where it makes sense and it's more efficient from a time and cost standpoint than either getting on the airlines or driving.”
But the Bonanza has benefited Seno’s business life beyond simply easing his travel arrangements. Being embedded in the aviation community for so many years has paid off both in terms of insight into the aviation industry but also contacts within the community.
Seno noticed the benefits from the beginning during his time with the Bellanca Aircraft Company. “I first started in the aviation industry as a finance salesman. As a pilot, you have a better understanding of the asset and related topics such as aircraft maintenance.” This proved particularly helpful in his career with JSSI and elsewhere. “When you can walk the walk and talk the talk, it really helps in the aviation business.”
Then, there is the mental training and discipline that flying a complex single-engine aircraft at 75 years – or at any age for that matter – demands of its pilots. For Seno, disciplined flying means a range of things. For example, rigorous attention to pilot check lists – despite completing the same actions thousands of times during his flying career. It also means being even more discriminating about the weather conditions in which he flies. “I don't take on the [bad] weather I used to,” he says.
Seno also makes a point of taking an annual recurrency training programme; run every January in Florida by the American Bonanza Society (ABS). This eight-hour ground school sharpens his skills and decision-making ahead of the new flying season. It’s training that is reinforced by training flights with specialist instructors. “I'm very fortunate to have three ABS instructors near our home in the Daytona Beach area and I fly with them every year,” he says. “I get a detailed logbook entry of the training we did, what we accomplished and I scan it and send it to my insurance company.”
Times past: The young Lou Seno works with his father on a home-build project.
Seno never takes any airplane for granted – particularly his Bonanza. “I just can’t stress this enough: it’s a high-performance, single-engine airplane that demands respect – like any airplane. But it’s an honest aircraft – if you fly it correctly, it won’t bite you.”
Despite his passion for the Beechcraft Bonanza, Seno is far from a one-plane man. Holding an Airline Passenger Transport Licence and a seaplane rating, Seno flew a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron for 11 years. Business jets, such as the Cessna Citation CJ series, also appear in his many logbooks. And he is a fan of Cirrus aircraft (propellor and jet) after joining the board of directors of an FBO and MRO in Burlington, Vermont, which is a Cirrus service centre.
Plus, Seno’s seaplane rating sees good use in the long Michigan summers on the third largest of the Great Lakes. Each year he logs more than 50 hours of flight time in his Aviat Husky wearing Wipline floats from his home at Harbour Springs. “That’s my fun summer airplane,” he said.
Meanwhile, personal highlights from Seno’s seven decades of attending the Oshkosh event include: watching the Aérospatiale-BAC Concorde land and a formation of Boeing B-29 Superfortresses. And witnessing the flying skills of heroes such as the late Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager (before their Voyager world flight), the late Bob Hoover and many others.
“AirVenture isn’t just an ordinary air show, it’s truly aviation’s heartbeat,” he says. Long may Lou and Christine continue to feel its pulse during visits in their beloved Beechcraft Bonanza F33A.
Sweet celebration: Lou Seno cuts a cake to mark his anniversary visit.
EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH
Billed as “the world’s largest aviation gathering”, EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is held every July in Wisconsin. This year’s event attracted a record-breaking 700,000 visitors, according to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). The event generates an economic value of about $170m for the region and attracts more than 860 exhibitors and over 10,000 aircraft.
The event is held at three locations: Wittman Regional Airport, Pioneer Airport and Vette/Blust Seaplane Base. Established in 1953, the show combines flypasts and aerobatic displays with static exhibits of modern, vintage and experimental aircraft. While home-built aircraft remain a large part of the event, it has grown to include almost every aspect of recreational, commercial and military aviation, plus aeronautics and astronautics. The airport's control tower frequency (118.5MHz) is said to be the busiest in the world.
Business aviation was strongly represented at Oshkosh this July. Alongside General Aviation Manufacturer’s Association (GAMA), International Dealers Aircraft Association (IADA) and National Aircraft Finance Association (NAFA), manufacturers represented included Boeing, Bombardier, Gulfstream, Honda Aircraft, Pilatus and Textron Aviation together with suppliers such as Collins Aerospace and Garmin.
At this year’s event, Lou Seno was honoured at The Gathering, EAA’s premier fundraising gala for his decades’ long contribution to aviation.
Aircraft new and old draw the crowds at the Oshkosh show.
Experimental and vintage aircraft planes are firm favourites.
Flying into Oshkosh
Shawn Dinning, senior partner, Dallas Jet International describes piloting his own Cirrus SR-22 into this year’s EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Wisconsin
“Although I’ve attended Oshkosh several times, 2025 was the first year I flew my own aircraft into the event – and I decided to go all in,” writes Dinning. “After meeting the training and proficiency requirements, I joined a formation of 48 Cirrus SR-22s flying in as part of COPA (Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association) formation. This is a highly trained, standardised group that holds formation flying clinics nationwide throughout the year. I fly several times a year with this group.
“Our formation launched from Janesville, Wisconsin and flew roughly 40 minutes in tight coordination before landing all 48 aircraft at Oshkosh within five minutes. We hit our EAA-assigned Time on Target with a deviation of exactly zero seconds – precision flying at its best. I then camped in a tent beside my airplane for several days, soaking in everything the event had to offer before returning home to Texas.
“As an aircraft broker for more than two decades, I’m deliberate about what I would buy for myself. The Cirrus SR-22 stood out as the best combination of speed, range, technology/comfort, operating cost, safety, and customer support for the single-engine piston mission I needed. It’s become both a valued business tool for my brokerage and a cherished personal aircraft.
“Oshkosh is one of the marquee aviation gatherings in the world, bringing together every corner of the flying community – military, homebuilt, vintage, business aviation and more – in unique combination. The airshows and demonstrations are unmatched, but what stood out to me this year was the event’s focus on showcasing aviation career paths to the next generation. I was proud to play even a small part in such a remarkable and inspiring week.”
