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For one Wichita air medical transport and aircraft charter company, revenues have really taken off.
In the past three years, Ballard Aviation's revenue has soared from $2.6 million to $6.4 million.
The company was founded in 1977 by Jimmy and Iva Ballard and is currently located at 6601 Pueblo Road.
Jimmy Ballard, an experienced pilot, was awarded Kansas' first FAA Flight Instructor of the Year Award in 1972 and went on to win again in 1973.
Always wanted to fly
It was evidence of a calling Ballard has felt since childhood.
"I've always had an interest in flying and being a pilot," he says. "I used to build model airplanes and pretend I was flying."
Ballard doesn't have to pretend anymore.
By the early 1980s, his fledgling charter company was flying Veterans' Administration patients...