Phoenix Aviation, a California-based light aircraft company, has announced it is locating its manufacturing operation and 200 jobs at Cache Valley's Mountain States Aviation.
The company produces the Phoenix, a 52-horsepower, graphite component aircraft that comes in kit form and can be assembled in about 100 hours, said Phoenix President Paul McShane at a news conference Saturday at the Logan-Cache Airport.Mountain States, a Phoenix subsidiary, already is based at the airport.
After a flight demonstration, McShane said the decision to move to Logan "was based on the vast amount of technological support available to engineers at Utah State University, where we have contracted for certain design refinements."
Lynn Blake, state director of business development, said northern Utah has become well-known in the area of aerospace technology in recent years.
He congratulated the Cache Economic Developer Bobbie Coray and city and county officials, saying their "hard work has proved successful in bringing a quality company into the community."
Lee Mandell, executive vice president of Phoenix, said the aircraft has all the abilities and characteristics of a Cessna 150 or small Piper and would do anything they do more efficiently.
"This is not a cross-country aircraft, its range is approximately 300 miles, and it's being used successfully now for crop-spraying in this country and for spraying of bananas in Ecuador," he said.
Mandell said the Phoenix also has potential for military and law enforcement applications.
Because its graphite components cannot be detected by radar, he said, "it should prove ideal for border patrol and drug interdiction."