Commander Aircraft to leave Oklahoma City production plant

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A brand of aircraft that's been made in Oklahoma for decades will soon be built in another state.<br/><br/>Commander Premier Aircraft Corporation says it will pull out of Oklahoma

Sunday, September 11th 2005, 6:43 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A brand of aircraft that's been made in Oklahoma for decades will soon be built in another state.

Commander Premier Aircraft Corporation says it will pull out of Oklahoma at the end of the month when its lease expires at its production facility at Wiley Post Airport in Bethany.

Commander officials say they couldn't find hangar space to lease after months of trying to negotiate an agreement on empty space at Wiley Post and Oklahoma City's Downtown Airpark. The company would have brought between 50 and 75 jobs to the area.

Commander's president, Joel Hartstone, says he's very disappointed they couldn't secure a production location at any airport in the Oklahoma City area.

The company built about 200 high-performance, single-engine airplanes between 1992 and 2002.