…Parts First, Planes Later…

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If the poetic sounding name of the community rings a bell, it’s because Cape Girardeau was previously touted as the site of the resurrection of the Luscombe 8F. In fact, the 52,000-square-foot building Commander will occupy was built, by the city, especially for Renaissance Aircraft’s bid to relaunch the storied taildragger. Plagued by expensive legal battles (which it won) Renaissance was not able to raise the investment money necessary to make the payments on the Cape Girardeau facility and the company was evicted last April. Hartstone said the facility will also house a service center and the company is also leasing another 23,000 square feet for shipping and receiving. Plans are to start making parts as soon as possible to fill the void left by CAC’s demise more than a year ago. The new company hopes to build 15 $600,000 Commanders in 2006 and 30 a year after that. The devil is always in the details, but this deal created a new definition for last-minute negotiations. As reporters and dignitaries waited in the empty hangar for the scheduled announcement, an undisclosed hitch was apparently discovered by one of the parties and the big news was delayed 30 minutes while the problem was sorted out. Commander will get the building rent-free for six months and then start paying an escalating monthly rate that starts at $11,000 and caps at $21,000 in 2009.

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