Off the Radar, Full Throttle: Why BAS Skipped the Trade Shows in 2025
Posted by Clinton McJenkin on Jul 21st 2025
We know what you’re thinking: “Wait… where was BAS at Oshkosh this year?” No booth, no banners, no aviation legends hanging out with us in folding chairs? It’s true — for the first time in over five years, we didn’t show up to Sun ‘n Fun or AirVenture. Not because we stopped caring. Not because we ran out of merch. But because we were too busy doing what we do best: building, scaling, and making aviation dreams possible — one salvaged part at a time.
We know what you’re thinking: “Wait… where was BAS at Oshkosh this year?” No booth, no banners, no aviation legends hanging out with us in folding chairs? It’s true — for the first time in over five years, we didn’t show up to Sun ‘n Fun or OshKosh, otherwise known as EAA AirVenture. Not because we stopped caring. Not because we ran out of merch. But because we were too busy doing what we do best: building, scaling, and making aviation dreams possible — one salvaged part at a time.
We didn’t ghost the shows. We went NORDO — radio silent — on purpose. While the crowds gathered under the hot sun and thunderous flyovers, our team was back home spinning up new disassembly shops, onboarding new hires, and pushing tens of thousands of parts online from hangars that used to live in the shadows. This wasn’t a break. It was a bold move. And we’re here to tell you exactly why we made it.
Follow Us on Social — Because the Stories Don’t End Here:
Why We Sat Out Sun 'n Fun and Oshkosh in 2025
(and What We’ve Been Doing Instead)
For over five years, BAS Part Sales has been a fixture at the two biggest general aviation events in the country: Sun ‘n Fun in Florida and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in Wisconsin.
If you’ve stopped by our booth in the past, you know we never came to sling parts. We didn’t haul inventory. We didn’t chase orders. We came for one reason:
👉 to meet our customers.
That’s always been the heart of BAS — connecting with the people whose flying stories are made possible by the parts we salvage, restore, and send back into the sky.
But in 2025, we hit pause. We made the tough, strategic, and very intentional decision to sit this year out.
Why? Because We’re Growing Like Crazy
We’ve been busy — and not the polite “it’s been a season” kind of busy. More like two-hands-on-the-throttle, building-two-shops-at-once, expanding-across-the-country kind of busy.
🔧 BAS Kansas City Is Booming
In 2023, we acquired White Industries and rebranded it as BAS Kansas City. It started as a tight four-person operation. Now? It’s a full-fledged team with mechanics, sales reps, researchers, and warehouse support — and it’s still growing.
We moved a huge chunk of their previously offline inventory online — and the moment it went live, it sold like hotcakes on a cold day.
“We had over 100,000 square feet packed with inventory and more than 2,000 aircraft in the field — none of it online. The world didn’t know what we had. Now they do.”
— Jared Boles, CEO & Founder
That digital transformation took serious horsepower from our executive and marketing teams. We even hosted a massive job fair to scale up fast.
💥 Meanwhile, in Colorado: Turbine Takes Off
Back at headquarters, we launched our new Turbine Engine Disassembly Facility. We’re talking business jets of all kinds, Citations, Learjets, Hondajets, King Airs, and much more — high-performance turbine aircraft going through our maticulous and thorough disassembly process.
We hired a second mechanic team, retrained our researchers to work with turbine platforms, and immediately tapped into a brand-new customer segment.
“Adding turbine aircraft to our wheelhouse was like adding a second engine to our operation — instant lift.”
— Matt Rangel, General Sales Manager
Trade Shows Come at a Cost — And Not Just Financial
Going to a trade show isn't just travel and lodging. It’s a hard pause on productivity across almost every department.
We typically send 8 to 10 people — our key sales, leadership, and executive team members. These are revenue-generating roles, and they’re usually out of the office for 3 to 10 days, depending on the show.
Behind the scenes, it’s even more demanding:
- Over a month of marketing prep: video content, merchandise, banners, and printed materials
- Days spent loading and unloading gear
- Multi-day drives to and from the show
And that’s all without bringing any parts to sell.
“We’ve never brought inventory. We don’t go to sell. We go to connect. That’s what makes BAS different.”
— Nolan Lanckriet, Director of Finance
In years past, it was manageable. Today, at our scale? It’s a full-blown productivity brake. And during a year of exponential growth, we simply couldn’t justify slowing the train down.
The Heartbeat of BAS Is Still Connection
Even though we weren’t physically at Sun ‘n Fun or Oshkosh this year, we haven’t gone quiet.
Our team remains extremely active on all platforms:
We’re still sharing customer stories, teardown videos, behind-the-scenes footage, and good old aviation banter.
👀 “Where’s Alex?” – A Little BAS at Oshkosh
Okay — we almost stayed away.
This year, one of our team members, Alex, made the trip to Oshkosh on her own, just for the love of aviation. Naturally, we turned it into a "Where’s Waldo" game, trying to spot her on the ground.
In fact, Clinton himself was caught on video searching the crowd — a fun nod to our deep roots in the event.
“We may have taken a gap year as a company, but our love for the show never took a break. Alex kept the flame alive.”
— Clinton McJenkin, Director of Sales & Marketing
Will We Be Back?
Absolutely. But probably with a new approach.
We’re taking this gap year to reimagine how we do trade shows. In the past, we went all-in with the full team — and it was electric. But now, with the size and scale of what we’re doing, it’s too costly to shut the whole thing down for a week.
Next time, expect:
- A new look and feel, possibly
- A leaner crew
- The same customer-first energy — no parts for sale, just stories, selfies, and aviation legends hanging out in the booth
“We’ll be back — better than ever. Just give us a minute to finish building the empire.”
— Jared Boles, CEO & Founder
Got a Story From a Past Show?
If you’ve ever met us at Sun ‘n Fun or Oshkosh, we’d love to hear about it. Tag us on social, shoot us a message, or drop us a note.
Until next time — keep flying, keep wrenching, and keep dreaming.
We’ll see you out there.
— The BAS Team
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