On July 23 Ken Keith, owner and CEO of Extra Aircraft, was joined by local officials from Montrose, Colorado, plus executives from turbine engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony commemorating the plane-maker’s decision to site its new U.S. headquarters and aircraft production center in the community.

“This is an incredibly exciting time for everyone involved with Extra Aircraft,” Keith said. “Creating a new purpose-built facility here in the U.S. is key to providing our North American-based customers with the overall ownership experience they expect when they buy and operate an Extra aircraft.”

The Extra 500’s advanced all-carbon-fiber fuselage and wing will be crafted by the Extra factory in Dinslaken, Germany, then shipped to Montrose for final assembly and completion to each customer’s specifications. Extra’s Montrose team will install the new Rolls-Royce M250-B17F turboprop engine and the new-generation Avidyne Entegra Release 9 avionics suite into each aircraft.

Keith said construction of Extra’s new 40,000-square-foot facility will begin soon. In the interim Montrose Regional Airport will provide temporary facilities for Extra’s operations.

Current plans call for phase one of the Extra facility to be operational by late fall 2010.

When completed, the new facility will also feature a state-of-the-art maintenance and spare parts facility. Keith said that when fully operational, the Montrose facility will employ more than 200 people.

Extra Aircraft manufactures a family of high-performance aircraft ranging from the advanced Extra 500 Spirit single-engine turboprop to the Extra 200, 300, and 330 sport and world-class competitive aerobatic aircraft. Founded in 1981 by legendary designer Walter Extra, the Extra family of aircraft is celebrating its 30th year.