West Virginia’s Quantum Leap into Aerospace

It was the winter of 1988 in Washington, D.C. The sun was up, temperatures down and optimism high as Congressman Alan B. Mollohan, Harrison County (W.Va.) Chamber of Commerce President John Lough and Short Brothers Vice President Bob Hodes met to conceptualize the beginning of a new aerospace economic center in the north central region of West Virginia. Thus marking the genesis of the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex.

The idea for a quality service station originated at a meeting two months earlier. Hodes, together with two industry presidents - Oakley Brooks of Short Brothers and Chuck Koukoulis of KCI Aviation - had come to Washington to brief Mollohan on the need to locate a Calgary-type operation in the mid-Atlantic region.

"When we first talked about our interest in bringing service on our aircraft closer to our operations here in the east, Congressman Mollohan jumped at the opportunity," Brooks recalled.

Hodes concurred. "The Congressman knew that this type of operation would complement the federal projects that Senator Robert C. Byrd was initiating in northern West Virginia. He saw it as a marvelous opportunity for the area and was not about to let it get away.

"He saw what it could become before it ever started."

A wave of new development

For Mollohan, the notion that his district could carve itself a profitable niche in the aerospace industry was attractive. "Shorts’ interest in establishing an eastern service facility came at an ideal time for us. Not long before, we had determined that adding new aviation operations was a sound strategy for diversifying the local economy, which had been hit hard by declines in coal mining and basic manufacturing," he said.

"Thanks to the counsel of Shorts and the support of local leaders, this concept evolved very quickly; within months, we were working toward the goal of establishing Benedum Airport as a center of maintenance, overhaul, training and manufacturing operations."

Mollohan even coined the term for this proposed center of activity: the Mid-Atlantic Aerospace Complex (MAAC).

It was a grand vision for an airfield with humble beginnings. Benedum originated in the 1930’s as a short grass strip known as Tri-County Airport - so named because the startup construction was financed by forward-thinking citizens of Harrison, Marion and Taylor counties.

Yet aside from serving as a U.S. Army Air Corps training base during World War II, much of its early history was quiet.

The area’s first major aerospace industry arrived in January 1962, when Lockheed opened the doors to its subassembly plant in nearby Clarksburg. Nine years later, the airport welcomed Pratt & Whitney of Canada’s new engine assembly plant, which would become an overhaul and repair facility.

The successful local operations of these industry leaders foreshadowed the area’s aerospace potential. As Shorts’ Brooks noted, "Our airplanes all have PT6 engines on them, and where better to get them repaired than at Benedum airport right next to Pratt & Whitney?"

Through the concentrated efforts of Byrd, Mollohan and local leaders, activity at Benedum began to explode in the late 1980’s. A wave of new development made MAAC more than just an interesting concept - it made it a powerful reality.

One of MAAC’s earliest supporters was Ralph Bean, then president of Hope Gas Inc., a local natural gas utility. He provided a loaned executive - Jim Skidmore - to help steer the complex’s development.

"We saw that the aerospace industry would make a major contribution to the region, and that its continued growth and success would help ensure a healthy, diversified economy," Bean said.

Key support also came for W.Va. Delegate Barbara Warner, who worked in Charleston to secure state backing for MAAC and its development initiatives.

A maintenance and overhaul facility of the style suggested by Shorts became a first cornerstone of MAAC. It became known as the West Virginia Air Center; in October 1989, local leaders broke ground for this 145,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility dedicated to servicing military and corporate aircraft.

"We had to establish a local facility to handle this opportunity,: Skidmore explained. "While Pratt & Whitney did major PT6 rebuilds, Shorts was looking for a single facility to do all its service and repair work so it didn’t have to send its planes all over North America for different types of work.