Top News
Most Read
Most E-mailed
E-mail Article
Print Article
Engine OK Helps Company Take Off
Porterville-based Tule River Aero-Industries plans to hire new workers and is anticipating a boost in business since gaining approval to install a new type of plane engine.
The aircraft repair and sales company owned by the Tule River tribe has had an agreement for at least two years to be the West Coast distributor -- one of five distributors in North America -- of an engine manufactured by the French company SMA Engines.
The new diesel engine is billed as cleaner burning, cheaper to operate and running on jet fuel.
Tule River Aero-Industries had been waiting for the Federal Aviation Administration to give its approval. The agency granted it late last month.
The company can now begin retrofitting four-passenger Cessna 182 Q and 182 R planes with the new engine.
"In the aviation community, this is big news," company spokesman Dave Farrar said. "Our phones have been ringing off the hook the last couple of days."
