Adding Space For Visiting Pilots, A Restaurant, New Offices And More

WACO Aircraft Company is planning a major expansion of its facilities at W.K. Kellogg Airport (KBTL) in Battle Creek, MI. The 80,000, square-foot, $18 million expansion is expected to be completed in the first half of 2020, according to company officials.

WACO was acquired last November by Dimor Group Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, FL. Dimore is a subsidiary of Dimor Aero of Cologne, Germany.

WACO president Peter Bowers, who retained his position after his company was sold, said that the new facility will include offices, a reception area for pilots and visitors, an area open to the public, space for a maintenance department, and a restaurant on the second floor capable of seating 100 people, according to a report from Second Wave of Southwest Michigan. Bowers said there will also be 18,000 square feet of manufacturing space and two hangars for transient airplanes.

The manufacturing space will accommodate construction of the iconic WACO biplanes, as well as some new projects, according to Bowers. The company will begin production of a Junkers F-13 (example pictured below) as well as an aerobatic airplane targeted at the flight training market.

Bowers forecasts that WACO will continue to build eight-10 biplanes and as many as 40 of the aerobatic planes per year in Battle Creek, along with the Junkers. "Business is good right now because the economy is strong," he told Second Wave. He says he plans to add as many as 20 employees in the next year, bringing the total payroll to about 60.

(Images from file)

FMI: Source report