Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 8

153 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 8 OSCODA-WURTSMI TH A I RPORT repair services. The combination of extensive runway, available airfield pavements, and aircraft maintenance capabilities are launching Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport towards becoming a spaceport. “We are bringing space to Michigan,” states Gavin Brown, Executive Director for the Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association. “The airport has a perfect runway and great manufacturing capabilities, so what we are doing is complementing it with an ecosystem that will take the academia and research development side, along with what is being done in commercial and government, and provide an entire ecosystem for primary deployment to LEO (Lower Earth Orbit) and MEO (Medium Earth Orbit). So that we focus specifically on a business growth model.” Specifically, this work will be going forward in phases. The first phase is the licensing process for the FAA which should take about 18 months. of flying over the North Pole into the Soviet Union. In 1960 it became part of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) – home to nuclear weapon- capable B-52 bombers and KC-135 Strato- tankers to provide airborne refuelling. In 1993 the base was decommissioned and turned over to the Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport Authority which includes representation from five local municipalities: Alcona County, Iosco County, Charter Township of AuSable, Charter Township of Oscoda, and Greenbush Township. The massive runway, which measures 11,800 by 200 feet, continues to be maintained in support of the many large, wide-body aircraft arriving to receive a variety of maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services. Many of those flight operations are attracted to Oscoda-Wurtsmith Airport in order to be serviced or repaired at the aircraft maintenance facilities that are operated by Kalitta Air. Additionally, Phoenix Composite Solutions and Flight Services is providing aerospace component manufacturing and