CONRAD SCHMIDT/THE REGISTER Scott Smith and Jeanne Westbrook Smith are co-owners of SkySmith Inc. in Ankeny, which offers insurance for airplanes, boats and custom cars. Scott also writes books and magazine articles on aviation and boating.

SkySmith Inc. ADDRESS: 518 S.W. Third St., Suite B, Ankeny PHONE: 289-1439 WEB SITE: www.skysmith.com OFFERS: Aviation insurance and pilot life insurance, marine insurance, and custom-car insurance.

Scott "Sky" Smith and his wife, Jeanne, have aviation in their blood.

They have built a family business around the mutual interest as owners of SkySmith Inc., an Ankeny insurance agency.

SkySmith's main line of business is aviation insurance and pilot life insurance. In addition, the agency offers boat insurance and insurance for custom cars.

The Smiths have been involved in aviation for most of their lives. Jeanne's father was a Cessna dealer in Ames for about 50 years. Scott earned his pilot's license at age 17. The couple met while Scott was taking flying lessons at the airport run by Jeanne's father.

Jeanne compared aviation to a chronic illness. "It may go into remission, but it never gets out of your blood," she said.

Scott obtained a bachelor's degree in industrial education from Iowa State University and taught industrial arts "for a couple of years," he said. He started the SkySmith insurance agency in the basement of his house in 1985. Jeanne worked at an established insurance agency for about 15 years, then five years ago took a leap of faith and joined the family business full time, she said.

"We have kind of a yin and yang thing," Jeanne said. Scott has the technical expertise and handles the sales aspects of the business. Jeanne, who has an accounting degree from Iowa State, handles the back office details.

After many years operating the business from home, the Smiths leased their current office space at 518 S.W. Third St. in downtown Ankeny about three years ago. Due to the nature of the business, "we don't get a lot of walk-in traffic," Scott said. The Smiths chose their downtown office for its convenient location. "It was a central location for all the activities for our kids," he said.

"We have a laid-back type of atmosphere," Scott said. "We have a couple of standard poodles that come in. They wander the office and greet the mailman."

SkySmith customer Paul Berge of Indianola said he appreciates that Scott Smith is a local businessman who takes a personal interest in his customers. "I can look him in the eye and he gets me what I want," he said.

Berge, a longtime pilot and flight instructor who also hosts the "Side Roads" segment on Iowa Public Television, said Smith is "very energetic, very accessible and very knowledgeable. He explains very carefully how things work."

In addition to selling insurance, Scott writes books and magazine columns on the topics of aviation and boating. His first published book was titled, "How to Buy a Single-Engine Airplane." His new book, "Ultimate Boat Maintenance Projects," will be published later this year, he said. He also writes a monthly column for Private Pilot magazine and several other aviation and boating publications.

He also travels around the country giving seminars on how to buy and sell airplanes and boats, a forum for marketing his insurance business and books. Scott Smith is licensed to sell insurance in more than 40 states and does business nationwide.

Berge said he is impressed by Scott Smith's breadth of experience. Scott has also been "a very good promoter of aviation in Iowa," Berge said.

The Smiths went through a scary time after the 2001 terrorist attacks. "The phones stopped ringing for about a week," Jeanne said.

However, the long-term effect on the business has been positive. "People want to control more things about their flying," she said. "They want to fly their own airplane, rather than relying on the airlinxes. So we had a little pick-up in business in that respect."