Joe Engels received his Aircraft and Engine certificate in 1939 from the Lincoln Flying School in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1947, he started Engels Aircraft in Minot, North Dakota. In 1952, Engels Aircraft became an Fixed Base Operation at the Fairbury, Nebraska airport, offering aerial application, charter service, new and used aircraft sales, flight instruction, and aircraft maintenance. In 1961, the business expanded to Beatrice, Nebraska. Engels served as one of the first aerial agricultural application pilots in Nebraska and was a charter member of the Nebraska Aviation Trades Association. He received the Association’s Airman of the Year award. Engels was a single engine, multi-engine, and instrument instructor. He received the Charles Taylor Mechanic Award from the Federal Aviation Administration for holding an Aircraft and Engine license for more than fifty years.

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