The 7th annual Great Planes Expo took over the Richard Lloyd Jones Junior Airport this week, as aviation professionals helped display some of leading private planes in the U.S.
The expo, which began in 2009, was created to help aviation manufactures and sellers in the Midwest rebound after suffering heavy losses during the recession in 2008.
Marketing supervisor of KCAC Aviation, Carrie Gicante, says the expo has helped create a mobile approach for manufacturers making planes more accessible to smaller communities.
“Because of schedules a lot of people can't make those bigger one's (shows) so we though if we could get other air craft manufacturers just all come together and go out to local airports for everybody to kind of come to a more local spot and get a side by side comparison,” Gicante said.
Planes displayed at the expo included brands such as Pilatus, TBM, Quest Aircraft and Angle Flight Central. Many different models graced the runway, however, with prices ranging from $600,000 to $8,000,000.
KCAC Regional Sales Director, Michael Coleman, says although the majority of citizens cannot afford to purchase private air crafts those who come to the expo solely to learn about planes are very important to the industry.
“There's two kind of people when an airplane is flying over. There's people that look up and there's people that never look up and we love that the communities get involved and come out to see it because aviation is part of a heritage,” Coleman said.
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