FAA Approves New Seminole Tribe Airplane

Business Wire, Jan 10, 2000

Business Editors

FORT PIERCE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 10, 2000

An airplane manufactured by The Seminole Tribe of Florida has been awarded a Type Certificate by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a rare event that will be marked Jan. 15 at a roll-out ceremony at the St. Lucie County International Airport.

The Type Certificate - which allows the manufacture and sale of aircraft - was awarded to the MAC 145-A, the first plane produced by the MICCO Aircraft Company (MAC), a firm owned by the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The FAA awards such certifications sparingly - the Seminole award is only the fourth type certificate issued by the federal agency since 1992.

"We're extremely pleased to get this Type Certificate," says F. DeWitt Beckett, President of MAC. "We've been working on the certification process over three years. It was a lot of work, but we have a great aircraft and we're proud to receive the first FAA certificate issued in the year 2000. It's a great day for MICCO and the Seminole Tribe."

The official certificate presentation will be made by Cynthia Lorenzen, Program Manager for the Atlanta Aircraft Certification Office of the FAA. Lorenzen will present the certificate to James E. Billie, Chairman of the Seminole Tribe at a ceremony at MAC's 40,000 sq. ft plant.

Billie, who is also a pilot, says he is proud to lead Native Americans into another source of revenue. "This is a big step for the Seminole Tribe and I'm very happy that we're finally able to market this plane," says Billie.

"It was a long process, but I think it's important that our Tribe continue to diversify its revenue sources. I hope this is just the start of a long line of planes that we produce and sell."

The Seminole Tribe is nationally known for its entrepreneurship, having pioneered the multi-billion dollar Indian gaming industry in 1979. The Seminoles were also the first tribe to build and operate a hotel, the Sheraton Four Points on the Tribe's Tampa Reservation and the first to operate an Internet marketplace. The Seminole Tribe also receives revenue from sales of tax-free cigarettes, cattle production, citrus and vegetable farming and other investments both domestic and overseas. \ The 145-A, marketed as the SP20, is a 200-hp, all metal, two place retractable conventional gear aircraft. It comes in two versions; The VFR equipped aircraft, which sells for $147,500, and the IFR equipped aircraft, which sells for $162,900. The plane is a modern version of the Meyers 145, an aircraft that was known as an extremely reliable and sturdy aircraft. MAC officials are also in the process of certifying the SP26, a 260-hp version that will be used for aerobatics. That certificate is expected by June.

At the roll-out party, which begins at 4 p.m. on Jan. 15, the keys to the first SP20 will be turned over to SoCal Aviation, of Santa Monica, Cal. SoCal is one of six distributors who will sell the SP 20 nation-wide.

For more information and photographs of the new airplane, please contact Decki Beckett, MAC's Director of Sales and Marketing at (561) 465-9996 or view the MICCO Air section of the Seminole Tribe's Internet website at www.miccoair.com. The Tribal contact is Dan McDonald (800-683-7800, ext 1266).