More News

Believers in business: Christian based company Sovereign Aerospace gives glory to God for rapid expansion and growth in the past year

By Faith Hatton, posted 11 months ago
The Sovereign Aerospace family (from left to right) Pilot in Training Sean Pridemore, Director of Maintenance Paul Mullen, Sandhills Fliers Flight School Director Laura White, Bookkeeper Carrie Hadaway, Chief Financial Officer James “Ken” Hadaway, Administrative Assistant Becky Prather and CEO Phillip “Slim” Thompson. All are dedicated to the company’s mission 
of serving God and loving people - Photo provided by GFBJ

All companies begin with an idea, but Christian company Sovereign Aerospace began when CEO Phillip “Slim” Thompson retired from 27 years in the U.S. Airforce and wanted to make a difference. Starting with helping the military community meet their flight-based needs, Slim and a group of other retired military pilots, an engineer, and a doctor bought their own Piper Cherokee 6 to use for Christian missions and humanitarian efforts.

Officially established as Sovereign Aerospace in 2021, the company has since grown into a thriving business in Moore County, covering multiple areas in the aviation industry to include a flight school, aviation repair and maintenance, a 501(c)3 nonprofit group that supports transitioning Veterans, and even expanding into Bladen County with their recent partnership with Elizabethtown and expanding operations to the Curtis L. Brown, Jr. Airport.

Members of the Sovereign Aerospace family, from the CEO to their administrative assistant, have had their own encounters and journeys with God and openly admit that the rapid expansion the company has seen over the past two years is due to the role that God has played in guiding their business.

“Religion, I don't really like that word. Religion is man trying to make their way to God. So, all of those are a recipe for being depressed and being a failure and working too hard and all these things and that's not what we believe in. We believe in Christianity and that is that God did all the work, ‘for God so loved the world.’ He sent Jesus, so we’re Jesus followers and that makes the difference. We're not having to earn and we're just trying to stay abiding. He said, ‘My yoke is easy, my burden is light.’ It's kind of like He is pulling a plow and He is the big strong Clydesdale horse for a bad analogy,” shared Thompson. “And our job is to just put that yoke on. We're not pulling anything; we're supposed to stay in position and that’s it. He’s doing the work, He's doing the directing, our job is to stay in position. And so really, that's what we're doing.” 

“This whole thing with Elizabethtown to me, and I think to everybody, that is God at work because we did not solicit that. We didn't ask for any of that, we didn't do anything extra. But things keep coming and lining up in front of us and we just keep taking steps forward. And what's happened there has been amazing and it hasn't because of anything we've physically done other than pray and ask God for direction,” shared Bookkeeper Carrie Hadaway. “We have prepared here, yeah, but being in that physical place, it's not like we went around and said ‘okay, I think we're going to try to go to Elizabethtown and we're going to try to do this and XYZ,’ it didn't happen like that.”

Over the past year, Sovereign Aerospace has been able to grow through subsidiaries including the UAS Drone program, the Sandhills Fliers pilot program, and their Pinehurst Aviation Services program, which helps train mechanics to restore, repair and even build airplanes and engines resulting in 150 airplanes being worked on by apprentices in the past year. 

For the staff they say it’s the people they encounter that makes their vision clearer.

“So, you got to think about the model that we all ascribe to right as Jesus Christ, right. He for three years had a ministry and at the end of that ministry, left this earth by going to the cross and dying on the cross for our sins. But if you go back and trace back for those three years, where did he go to find his disciples? Did he go to the synagogue? Did he go to the local temple? Or the church? No he went to the marketplace. He went to businesses and entrepreneurs and those types of things. So, this is set up in the same model,” said Chief Financial Officer Ken Hadaway. “As we have our conversations, talk about our testimony, and it could be anybody. It could be children from this weekend when we did the free flying events for all the youth. It could be something that's coming in the future with the barbecue festival with Keith Davies and St. Louis Community College this weekend. We don't know. All we have to do is remain submissive, but also discerning to listen to where God is calling us.”

As the company continues to move forward new developments are underway including Orion Aviation, which will focus on Department of Defense and government contracting, for marine mammal research and fighting wildfires, an FAA approved flight school, Pinehurst Aces still in process and Sandhills Avionics, which will feature Garmin-approved avionics installing and upgrades hoped to be coming in 2024.

The staff say that they will continue to rely on God to move forward with bigger and better projects in the coming weeks, months and years.

“What we've done here and out here in Pinehurst, people came to us based on somebody's recommendation,” shared Director of Maintenance Paul Mullen. “We’re supposed to be that bright light for Christ. And to me that's what it was, you know we're held accountable. And our actions are testament to people. They see us and say ‘Wow, these guys are doing all right and they’re out to help everybody.’ You’ve got to set the example you know, and we did that.”

“It gives us a unity that other businesses may not have. All of these guys deserve to be making a whole lot more money than we can afford to pay them, but because we're a startup and we're trying to help people, we're equally focused on being the hands and feet of Jesus and being able to help people,” said Thompson.

Ico insights

INSIGHTS

SPONSORS' CONTENT
fayetteville-state-university trung-v-tran-phd headshott

FSU Empowers Youth with STEM Skills Thanks to NASA Grant

Trung V. Tran, Ph.D. - Assistant Professor of Geospatial Science in the Department of Intelligence Studies, Geospatial Science, Political Science and History, Fayetteville State University
cumberland-county-ems alinda-bailey headshott

Cape Fear Valley Health’s Community Paramedic Program Provides High-Risk Follow-Up Care that Improves Outcomes

Alinda Bailey - Manager Community Paramedic Program, Cumberland County EMS
healthkeeperz-inc tim-brooks headshott

HealthKeeperz Achieves Certification for Tailored Care Management in North Carolina

Tim Brooks - President, Healthkeeperz, Inc.

In The Current Issue

Publisher's Note: What a magnificent month of March!

What an impactful month March is! We get to honor the women in our lives throughout the month of March, and more specifically on March 8 for International Women’s Day. We also get to celebrate the beginning of new life in spring which coincidentally


Finding learning solutions: Fayetteville learning expert Kathryn Cox shares her dedication to education serving as the new VP of learning solutions

It is a season of growth for Linchpin Solutions, Inc. as they welcome in their new Vice President of Learning Solutions, Kathryn Cox. Cox has been developing training and education programs for customers for over 30 years, building up her impressive


Optimal Bio for optimal health: Cary based optimal bio is continuing to grow and expand practice locations under the leadership of “She.E.O.” Tylar Brannon

Based in Cary, NC, Optimal Bio currently has four established locationsacross North Carolina, including one in Southern Pines, NC. PHOTOS TAKEN BY SARAH MORREL PHOTOGRAPHYTylar Brannon, the chief executive officer of Bioidentical Hormone Replacement