Southwest Missouri Aviation wants to build a 3,600-square-foot hangar at the Cassville Municipal Airport.
The aviation maintenance and flight instructor firm already leases a 3,000-square-foot hangar at the airport, said Doug Rands, who owns Southwest Missouri Aviation with Danny Hendricks. The company is negotiating with the city for the new site to be east of the current location.
“The next step is to put a business plan together,” Hendricks said.
The aviation firm, which has been at the airport for about a year, plans to start construction this winter, he said.
The grand opening for the new building will be in the spring, and the current building will still be used for maintenance. The new building will be used for overflow of airplanes.
Hendricks brought the Ozark Flying Club to the airport around May, Rands said.
“We are going to encompass everything underneath Southwest Missouri Aviation,” he said.
The flight club has about 13 pilots. It owns a Cessna 172 and a Beechcraft Musketeer.
Hendricks, who is a U.S. Air Force veteran, has been a certified flight instructor for almost 30 years. He currently has 16 students. Southwest Missouri Aviation offers licenses in private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine, air transport pilot and instructor ratings.
The flight club expects to have 25 members next year, and it plans to buy two more airplanes, Hendricks said.
Hendricks and Rands are licensed mechanics.
Some of the planes that Southwest Missouri Aviation will take care of are more than $400,000. For now, the company plans to maintain about 35 airplanes.
The aviation firm plans to increase that number to between 70 to 80 planes over a two-year period, Rands said.