BATAVIA — To most Cincinnatians, Sporty's is a little-known aviation business that made national news this week because of the first indictment handed up in the Sept. 11 hijackings.

        But it is known to pilots and aviation enthusiasts around the globe.

Bill Anderson of Sporty's says anyone learning to fly has bought something from the Clermont firm. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

        About 20 miles from Cincinnati at the Clermont County Airport, the company offers flight lessons, but the bulk of its business is selling aviation products through glossy catalogs.

        “Sporty's is basically an educational institution,” said company president Hal Shevers. “We educate pilots.

        “We have nearly 100 hours of our own educational videos on topics ranging from flying helicopters to weather to GPS (global positioning satellites), all of which are produced to help pilots fly safer.”

        Sporty's was never referred to by name in the indictment Tuesday in Virginia of Zacarias Moussaoui, who is accused of conspiring to kill thousands of Americans in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

        The indictment said only that he and two other hijackers — Mohammed Atta and Nawaf al-Hazmi — had purchased flight deck videos at an “Ohio pilot store.”

ABOUT SPORTY'S

Sporty's, which bills itself as the world's largest shop for pilots, sells items from flight-training videos to sunglasses through its catalog, Sporty's Pilot Shop.     Sporty's opened in 1962 at Lunken Airport and built a larger facility in 1971 at the Clermont County Airport. It has since added to that facility. Sporty's is a division of Sportsman's Market Inc., a catalog-order company also based in Batavia.     In 1987, Sporty's Academy was founded to develop aviation courses and videotapes on subjects from weather and safety to technique and control. Today, the academy provides flight training for students from around the world as well as for the University of Cincinnati Professional Pilot Technology program.

        Sporty's is the only aviation company local pilots could think of that would fit the profile.

        In the warehouse that ships everything from headsets and maps to flight cases and cockpit organizers, business was normal on Wednesday. Employees were working to update catalogs and create aviation DVDs, which help beginners learn basics.

        Sporty's rarely gets much mainstream publicity. That's why company spokesman Bill Anderson said that people in the industry didn't think any possible connection to the terrorist attacks was much of a story.

        “People say, "Of course the hijackers would have bought something from Sporty's,'” Mr. Anderson explained. “Everybody learning to fly has at some point.”

        Phil Smith, 23, a video technician for the company, put it this way: “It's kind of like telling a kid to get a hamburger at McDonald's.”

        No one at the company or in the FBI, however, will confirm whether Sporty's is the aviation business referred to in the indictment. Mr. Anderson did say Sporty's has been cooperating with the FBI since Sept. 16, when the company received the first call. There have been multiple contacts between the company and the FBI since then.

        Neither federal prosecutors nor the FBI would give details.

        “The FBI has never talked specifically about the airports or airport supply places that were contacted in September across the country,” said Cincinnati FBI spokesman Ed Boldt.

        “This is not a Cincinnati FBI case. The indictment was not returned here, and because the drafters of the indictment chose not to identify the store, it certainly would be inappropriate for me to make any comment at all.”

       The Associated Press contributed to this report.
       

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