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Aviation manufacturer relocating to Brownsville
By GILBERTO SALINAS
The Brownsville Herald
May 24, 2005 — What was once the birthplace of silvery coach buses will now be the delivery room for Taylorcraft airplanes, a La Grange manufacturer planning to crank out 200 to 300 small planes per year at a local manufacturing plant.
“Taylorcraft is a well respected name in the industry,” said Brownsville Economic Development Council president Jason Hilts, who worked on luring the small-plane maker to the former Eagle Coach factory near the airport.
The aircraft factory will take up about a third of the total 260,000 square feet of the Eagle facility.
“Brownsville is a good location. Having an aviation manufacturer in the area will get us going in a new direction,” Hilts said. “This will open up a new market for us.”
Taylorcraft has been in operation for 70 years and will be the first airplane factory of its kind in the area.
The company is relocating from La Grange, just west of Houston, and plans to begin production by next month.
Company officials expect to have their first plane in flight by August, Taylorcraft reported on its corporate Web site.
Employees will build the 2005 Taylor Sport and Taylor Cub — small planes used by sport aviation pilots.
The retail price of the airplane is $59,995, according to Taylorcraft.
“It’s a pleasure aircraft,” Hilts said.
“It’s like having boat. You take it out for two or three hours. It’s not for going from point A to point B. It’s just for recreation.”
The assembly line operations will assemble and finish the plane here, with some parts made in Mexico, Hilts said.
Taylorcraft will create 60 jobs paying an average of $10 per hour, according to BEDC, which is still waiting for approval of a $300,000-plus incentives package for the aviation company.
“They will bring 60 good-paying jobs,” said Michael Jones, business development manager for the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport.
“It’s not a firm thing yet, but there could be a proposal to have a (aviation mechanics) training school,” Jones said. “People could learn how to build airplanes.”
The company was founded in 1935 in Alliance, Ohio, by C.G. Taylor, who previously teamed up with William Piper in another aviation venture. Piper also is a popular small plane.
Piper and Taylorcraft airplanes are almost identical, Hilts said.
Taylorcraft hit its peak in 1946, producing 30 planes per day.
Many of those old planes are still flying. The majority of Taylorcrafts now in operation date back to the mid-1940s, according to the company’s fact sheet.
The manufacturer also plans to have a “car lot” of planes at the plant where customers will be able to choose from an inventory of planes, Hilts said.
“They will have an array of airplanes that will be certified, detailed and ready to fly,” he said.
[email protected]
By GILBERTO SALINAS
The Brownsville Herald
May 24, 2005 — What was once the birthplace of silvery coach buses will now be the delivery room for Taylorcraft airplanes, a La Grange manufacturer planning to crank out 200 to 300 small planes per year at a local manufacturing plant.
“Taylorcraft is a well respected name in the industry,” said Brownsville Economic Development Council president Jason Hilts, who worked on luring the small-plane maker to the former Eagle Coach factory near the airport.
The aircraft factory will take up about a third of the total 260,000 square feet of the Eagle facility.
“Brownsville is a good location. Having an aviation manufacturer in the area will get us going in a new direction,” Hilts said. “This will open up a new market for us.”
Taylorcraft has been in operation for 70 years and will be the first airplane factory of its kind in the area.
The company is relocating from La Grange, just west of Houston, and plans to begin production by next month.
Company officials expect to have their first plane in flight by August, Taylorcraft reported on its corporate Web site.
Employees will build the 2005 Taylor Sport and Taylor Cub — small planes used by sport aviation pilots.
The retail price of the airplane is $59,995, according to Taylorcraft.
“It’s a pleasure aircraft,” Hilts said.
“It’s like having boat. You take it out for two or three hours. It’s not for going from point A to point B. It’s just for recreation.”
The assembly line operations will assemble and finish the plane here, with some parts made in Mexico, Hilts said.
Taylorcraft will create 60 jobs paying an average of $10 per hour, according to BEDC, which is still waiting for approval of a $300,000-plus incentives package for the aviation company.
“They will bring 60 good-paying jobs,” said Michael Jones, business development manager for the Brownsville/South Padre Island International Airport.
“It’s not a firm thing yet, but there could be a proposal to have a (aviation mechanics) training school,” Jones said. “People could learn how to build airplanes.”
The company was founded in 1935 in Alliance, Ohio, by C.G. Taylor, who previously teamed up with William Piper in another aviation venture. Piper also is a popular small plane.
Piper and Taylorcraft airplanes are almost identical, Hilts said.
Taylorcraft hit its peak in 1946, producing 30 planes per day.
Many of those old planes are still flying. The majority of Taylorcrafts now in operation date back to the mid-1940s, according to the company’s fact sheet.
The manufacturer also plans to have a “car lot” of planes at the plant where customers will be able to choose from an inventory of planes, Hilts said.
“They will have an array of airplanes that will be certified, detailed and ready to fly,” he said.
[email protected]
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