After a tumultuous year in which tribal politics pretty much brought Seminole owned Micco Aircraft to a halt, LanShe Aerospace claims that it is the new owner of the company and the two type-certificated aircraft it once produced.

Wadi Rahim, President of LanShe Aerospace, LLC., claims that LanShe has completed acquisition of the assets of the Micro Aircraft Company, based in Ft. Pierce. Florida. LanShe also plans to produce current models of Lake single engine amphibious aircraft under license from Global Amphibians, Type Certificate owner of the Lake family of aircraft. Lake aircraft are manufactured in Bedford, Maine with completions conducted in Florida.

Micco previously manufactured the type certificated SP-20 and SP-26 utility and acrobatic category two place aircraft. Deliveries of new Micco aircraft had been discontinued last year in the midst of a political uprising in which Seminole Chief James Billie was ousted and the company's activities curtailed by the tribe's leaders who apparently didn't look favorably on the Billie-created enterprise. Rahim claims that all assets of Micco will remain at the original St. Lucie County International Airport facility and that efforts are "well underway" to resume production of both Micco and Lake models to meet market demand. Rahim also claims that several Micro aircraft are available for immediate delivery, although sources indicate that this may be highly problematic and that a number of obstacles remain before those aircraft can leave the factory as new, certified, aircraft.

In its heyday, Micco had close to 100 employees and was actively involved in aircraft production, producing a dozen aircraft in 2001. Nothing has left the factory for quite a while, and a skeleton crew is all that remains of the original group, though Rahim is reportedly trying to hire back a number of former Micco staffers with mixed success. Rahim recently stated that he hopes to build about 20 Micco SP-20s or SP-26s a year, in addition to 6-12 Lake amphibs annually. This effort is expected to require a staff of 70 people. More info to follow...

FMI: LanShe Aerospace LLC. 772-464-9996