WATSONVILLE — Two years after beginning construction at Watsonville Municipal Airport, and after years of repairing and rebuilding airplanes on the tarmac with no roof over their heads, workers at United Flight Services have a giant new hangar to call home.
The gleaming, 10,000-square-foot structure is attached to 460 square feet of office space, replacing a trailer that previously served that function.
At the front facing the airport is a gargantuan 10,000-pound door that can open to allow aircraft ingress.
The company has offered flight lessons, airplane rentals and repair services since its inception in 1966.
But mechanics’ schedules were dependent on the elements, and changed daily when owner Terry McKenna drove to work to check the weather.
“It was very inefficient,” he said.
Even when the weather cooperated, the mechanics had to lock the disembodied airplane parts in various hangars when they clocked out for the day.
“It’s amazing how much more efficient you can be when you have everything you need in one place,” he said.
United Flight Services will hold a grand opening for the new hangar building on Saturday.
