SABRELINER KEEPS ITS JETS IN THE AIR; THE STURDY WORKMANSHIP OF PERRYVILLE'S MECHANICS HAS ALWAYS ATTRACTED PILOTS

PERRYVILLE, Mo. -- They don't make Sabreliner aircraft like they used to, which is why pilots bring their planes here.

The St. Louis-based company with finishing facilities in Perryville has not built a new airplane since 1981, but as an original equipment manufacturer and service provider to military planes, it keeps running, said David Reddick, company spokesman.

Owners of Sabreliner business jets would rather return to aircraft mechanics in Perryville than go somewhere else, Reddick said.

"They'll fly in from thousands of miles away just to have the same person work on it that worked on it before," he said.

Change to business jet

The original Sabreliner T-39 was built for the Air Force as a military training plane. In 1963, its mission changed as it became the first twin-engine business jet.

"It was converted from a military aircraft without many changes," Reddick said. "That's why it is able to do the high-stress maneuvers, none of which are encouraged these days."

The high-powered business jet went out of production when parent company Rockwell International and other aircraft manufacturers experienced an economic downturn in the late 1970s. A private group of investors bought out the Sabreliner division of the company in 1983.

This has resulted in only a few operations changes at the Perryville facility, Reddick said.

Perryville became Sabreliner's finishing site for planes in 1977 when the company moved final assembly from Los Angeles.

Workers got "green planes," Reddick said.

"Basically they came to Perryville with no interior finishing and minimal avionics," he said. "The planes could fly, but they didn't have much."

The sturdy construction of Sabreliners has always attracted pilots. A slightly higher bulkhead at the plane's entry was especially designed so that water would not get into the interior if a crash landing occurred in the water, Reddick said.

Perryville facility

The Perryville facility has 12 buildings, with more than 210,000 square feet of working space at the city's municipal airport.

Sabreliner employees average 21 years of experience in Perryville, and more than 60 percent of them are licensed airframe and powerplant mechanics.

This amount of experience allows Sabreliner to perform depot-level maintenance in Perryville. Some military aircraft is completely taken apart, repaired and painted on a contract basis, Reddick said.

Older Sabreliner business jets receive restorative labor and updates on equipment.

"As an original equipment maker, we're required to stay in business by law," Reddick said.

This allows mechanics to refit airplanes with newly devised engineering modifications, such as speed brakes for landings on short fields.

Overall, the resale market on Sabreliners is good, Reddick said. The company remains a top buyer of its old planes.