Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation expands to Moses Lake, WA

| July 16, 2014 1:00 PM

AeroTEC has secured a contract with Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation to conduct all of the US flight testing for the new Mitsubishi Regional Jet 90s in Moses Lake, WA.

Moses Lake, WA, July 14, 2014:

Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and AeroTEC, a Seattle based flight test engineering company, have announced their partnership in conducting the US flight testing for the new Mitsubishi Regional Jet 90s (MRJ 90s). The testing is scheduled to begin in fall of 2015 at the Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington. Mitsubishi has committed to bringing three MRJ 90s to the US for a period of at least three years.

To accommodate the project, AeroTEC will construct a new 65,000 square foot, wide body aircraft hangar at the airport. Construction on the estimated nine million dollar hangar is expected to begin in October of 2014 and be completed by July 2015. The hangar will be built on 3.75 acres adjacent to a newly refurbished ramp and leased from the Port of Moses Lake.

According to Lee Human, President of AeroTEC, Moses Lake was selected as the location for the new facility due to the superior flying weather, clear airspace, flat topography, and long wide runways. These conditions make Moses Lake an ideal location for flight test operations. “Moses Lake has become an important part of our company's future” said Lee Human. “We are thrilled to be making a significant investment in Moses Lake with the building of our new hangar at the Grant County International Airport in support of the flight testing for Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation.” AeroTEC anticipates having 80 - 100 employees on the ground during the testing period.

The MRJ 90 is a completely new, fuel efficient commercial aircraft being built in Nagoya, Japan. Over 400 orders for the plane are in place, with a majority from US airlines.

AeroTEC customers include Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Honeywell, Alaska Airlines, Northrop Grumman, Goodrich, Rolls-Royce, FedEx, Winglet Technology, Aviation Partners Boeing and Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation. AeroTEC recently has worked on a series of important tests, including the Split Scimitar Winglet for Aviation Partners Boeing, its designer. In that test, the winglets, which are designed to improve aerodynamic efficiency by reducing fuel burn, demonstrated that they can improve cruise fuel mileage up to 6 percent, a remarkable improvement and operational efficiency gain.

As a result of over 11.8 million dollars invested in infrastructure improvements, the Port of Moses Lake has recently recruited several world class aerospace companies to its facilities. In addition to AeroTEC, Aviation Technical Services, one of the nation's largest maintenance, repair and overhaul companies, and Greenpoint Technologies, a Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) Completion provider have located operations at the airport. Boeing continues to test its aircraft manufactured in Washington at Moses Lake.

Patrick Jones, Executive Director of the Port of Moses Lake has said, “This latest project strengthens the Port of Moses Lake's position as one of the best locations in the world for flight testing. Boeing, the US Department of Defense, and now Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation rely on this airport for their testing needs. We are extremely excited about the new hangar, the expansion of our world class aerospace cluster and look forward to assisting both AeroTEC and Mitsubishi in the near future.”

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Pub.: July 16, 2014