L-3 Crestview Aerospace

L-3 Crestview Aerospace of Crestview, Florida, formerly Crestview Aerospace Corporation, became a part of L-3 Communications as an acquisition in July 2006. L-3 Communications purchased Crestview, described as "a closely held maker of helicopter fuselages, for $135 million in cash." 

Background
Crestview was a "former Fairchild Industries Inc. unit" and was bought out of bankruptcy in 1990 by former president and chief executive officer Charles E. Shanklin. "The Shanklin family restarted Crestview's operations in 1991 with 13 employees," according to Crestview's president, Charles R. Shanklin. "Shanklin said the family decided to sell in part because of potential estate tax problems. Shanklin and his siblings will stay on to run the company, a typical practice of L-3. Bank of America Corp. acted as financial adviser to Crestview." 

Previously, Crestview Aerospace Corp. described itself as follows: "Crestview Aerospace provides aircraft structures, major airframe assemblies and military aircraft modifications for leading Prime contractors and OEMs in the aerospace industry." 

In December 2004, Mary Ellen McCandless wrote in Business Facilities that, "With more than 500 employees, [Crestview Aerospace Corp.] CAC is one of the largest employers in Okaloosa County. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, demand for CAC's military aircraft components and modification services skyrocketed. When the company was awarded a contract from Boeing to refurbish and enhance four C-130 gunship airplanes, CAC needed to expand. Among the states it considered for the expansion were Texas, Alabama, and Florida.

"Florida eventually landed the project thanks to a prime location that offers CAC close proximity to key military bases, and the region's skilled workforce. The $6.3 million expansion will create 275 new higher-wage jobs. State incentives for expanding in a Florida Enterprise Zone and job creation in a target industry also played a large role.

"'When we considered that 85% of our aircraft modification division employees have military backgrounds, we knew Florida was the place to find more skilled workers to fuel CAC's growth,' says Charles R. Shanklin, CAC's VP of Aircraft Modification. 'After evaluating our options and working with state and local leaders, it was clear Florida was the best fit.'"

Clients
"Customers of its AeroStructures Group include the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), Bell Helicopter Textron, Boeing, GKN-Westland, Vought Aircraft Industries, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin. Select partners for its Aircraft Modifications Group include Boeing, Lockheed Martin, MTC Technologies and Northrop Grumman. Additionally, L-3 currently partners with Crestview Aerospace for C-130 aircraft, as well as for H-60 and H-53 helicopters." 

Personnel
The Crestview Aerospace contact information for the following personnel can be accessed here. However, the date of this information is unknown, as Charles E. Shanklin is listed as Chairman and President. Charles R. Shanklin, his son, has served as president since June 2004 and assumed duties as CEO following the July 2006 acquisition by L-3 Communications. 


 * Thomas E. Shanklin, Executive Vice-President
 * Rickey H. Ates, VP - Operations and General Manager Fairhope Facility
 * Thomas Hassett, Chief Financial Officer
 * Fred Bryant, Corporate Quality Director
 * Al Niedbalski, Executive Director, Aircraft Modification Group
 * Kenneth Peters, Director, Aircraft Modification Programs
 * Ann Shields, VP Corporate Relations and Plant Manager - Fairhope
 * Rob Schmaltz, New Business Planning and Development
 * Ron Covey, Facility Security Officer
 * Peggy Milz, Director, Process Management
 * Lee Wetzell, Director Human Resources
 * John Shanklin, VP - Facility Expansion
 * Larry Welch, Facility Infrastructure Coordinator

Tepper Aviation
The company appears to be closely connected to Tepper Aviation, Inc.: they share the same address, and Charles R. Shanklin is a director of both. Additionally, Tepper director Jack E. Owen was President of Crestview Aerospace until 2001. Airplanes operated by Tepper are alleged to have been used for extraordinary rendition.

Contact details
Crestview Aerospace Corporation Headquarters 5486 Fairchild Road Crestview, FL 32539 Tel: +1 850 682-2746 Fax: +1 850 682-0489 Email: info AT crestview-aerospace.com Web: http://www.crestview-aerospace.com/ (source)

Note: L-3 Crestview is located at Crestview Air Park - Bob Sikes Airport, Crestview, Okaloosa County, Florida. 

SourceWatch resources

 * Jack E. Owen
 * Tepper Aviation, Inc.

Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations records

 * Company records for Tepper Aviation, accessed May 23, 2006. (PDF version).
 * Company records for Crestview Aerospace Corp, accessed May 23, 2006. (PDF version).
 * Uniform Business Report for Crestview Aerospace Corp (TIF image), February 7, 2001. (PDF version).

Profiles

 * Crestview Aerospace, L-3 Communications.

Articles & Commentary

 * Mary Ellen McCandless, "Florida Successfully Creating Jobs in Target Clusters," Business Facilities, December 2004.
 * "L-3 set to purchase Crestview Aerospace," Bloomberg News (published in Deseret News/FindArticles.com), May 25, 2006.