FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 12, 2012

For more information:
Keith Metzler
Assistant City Manager, City of Victorville
Assistant Executive Director, Southern California Logistics Airport Authority
 (760) 243-4773

BOEING A-160 HUMMINGBIRD FLIGHT TEST PROGRAM CONCLUDES OPERATIONS AT SCLA

VICTORVILLE, CA – In an announcement to align its flight test activities to a location that is closer to where the Boeing unmanned helicopter is produced, SCLA has received notice that the Boeing A-160 flight test program is being relocated to Arizona.  The Boeing Hummingbird program has operated out of SCLA dating back to July of 1995 when it was originally developed by a company called Frontier Systems.  The Boeing Hummingbird conducted its first unmanned flight test in 2004.  Over that period of time, the Boeing Hummingbird program had expanded into a total of 39,868 square feet of hangar space located at SCLA.  Boeing’s flight test activity had taken place in a specially designated airspace for unmanned flight systems that is controlled by SCLA’s air traffic control tower. 

“We are saddened to see the Boeing Hummingbird program leave SCLA, however, it has reminded us how important we have been to each other in achieving our respective goals”, says Ryan McEachron, Chairman of SCLA and Mayor for the City of Victorville.  “Operating at SCLA, Boeing has been able to prove the unmanned Hummingbird helicopter as flight worthy and it has helped prove SCLA as an ideal location for the development of aviation systems and flight test operations”, says McEachron.  

Despite the Boeing Hummingbird departure, there remain a number of Boeing operations functioning at SCLA including the Boeing service contract recently signed with Pacific Aerospace Resources and Technology (PART) of March 28, 2012.  Boeing Corporation has been a tenant at SCLA since 2001, conducting various aviation operations that have evolved and expanded over the past 11 years. It is expected that the Hummingbird facilities will be vacated within 90-days and it is believed, that based on current demand for hangar facilities, that the Hummingbird hangar units will be occupied by a tenant conducting like operations.          

About Southern California Logistics Airport

Located in the Victor Valley/High Desert region of Southern California, just 90 minutes from Los Angeles, Southern California Logistics Airport is an all-commercial aviation hub and industrial park.  As the former site of George Air Force Base, the 5,000-acre park is run by the City of Victorville and has been transformed into a multi-industry center in partnership with Stirling Capital.  Southern California Logistics Airport is home to world-class companies such as Boeing, Pacific Aerospace Resources & Technologies (PART), Pratt Whitney, Exquadrum, Southern California Aviation, GE Transportation, Leading Edge, Newell Rubbermaid, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Plastipak and M&M/Mars.  For additional information, visit www.victorvillecity.com.