Large aviation hangar project opens at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa

By Richard Dyer
Mail | Twitter: @RHDyer

Some of the hangars at a new site at Falcon Field Airport in Mesa are for parking planes and jets but other uses include a 3D printing company and a place for pilots to rest and plan their flights.

Davcon Aviation LLC and Mesa Hangar LLC on April 27 celebrated completion of the new 23-acre development at an event at Hangar 109, 4517 E. Mallory Circle, and later with a ribbon-cutting ceremony next to an aviation sculpture at East Mallory Circle and North Greenfield Road. Speakers included David Wakefield, president of Davcon Aviation; Randy Hansen, manager of Mesa Hangars LLC; and Dell Loy Hansen, founder and CEO of Wasatch Group.

Wakefield said the developers had thought the hangars would be filled with corporate jet owners but were surprised when manufacturing businesses became tenants. They include rosotics and Blue Road Enterprises.

“That’s one of the points they made — they thought they would just have a bunch of corporate jets move in but what it’s been — and it’s a great surprise for Mesa — is it’s been jobs. It’s been aviation-related employment and manufacturing. So that really turned out better than we had anticipated,” Mesa Mayor John Giles said after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“We all thought it was inevitable that the airport would develop but this has happened a lot faster than we anticipated. Thanks to the Hansens for coming in and making this significant investment. I think it’s been a very profitable investment for them too,” Giles said. “This now reminds me of what you see going on out at the (Phoenix-Mesa) Gateway Airport area where when you have developable property around an airport it really is a great incentive for growth.”

Future phases of the Mesa Hangar project are planned nearby, Airport Director Corinne Nystrom said after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“Well they are planning their next phase of development right up here at Greenfield and McDowell so we’re looking forward to a ribbon-cutting for that one too,” she said.

Other development planned at the airport — which is bounded by McDowell Road to the north, McKellips Road to the south, Greenfield to the west and Higley Road to the east — is just north of the U.S. Post Office, she said.

“Yes, actually we currently have a state grant to design a taxi lane that will go over to that vacant land over there towards Higley and we’ve actually had quite a few entities that are expressing an interest in leasing over there. You’re going to be seeing some development over there in the next few years as well,” she said.

The six-building, $65 million project on the northwest side of the airport includes two phases totaling more than one million square feet. The large aircraft hangars have manufacturing space and offices with users — according to Randy Hansen — including:

• BannerAir, a hospital-based air medical transport program that started in 2021, according to bannerhealth.com;
• Van Horn Aviation, which designs, certifies and manufactures composite rotor blades, according to vanhornaviation.com;
• Empire Cat, which is a heavy construction equipment business with a website at empire-cat.com;
• Paradise Jets, which offers full-service private aviation, according to paradisejets.com;
• Venture West, a flight school, according to venturewestaviation.com;
• Department of Emergency and Military Affairs — Joint Task Force Arizona, with a website at dema.az.gov;
• Avflight, which has flight and pilot services including a flight-planning room, concierge service, lavatory service and third-party aircraft maintenance, according to avflight.com/Network/KFFZ;
• rosotics, which creates large metal 3D printers for aerospace and defense, according to rosotics.com;
• California Aeronautical University, a flight school with a website at calaero.edu;
• Blue Road Enterprises, airframe technologies; and
• Aviation One, which has services including a jet-maintenance center according to aviation.one.

Richard H. Dyer can be reached at rdyer@iniusa.org, or on Twitter @rhdyer. To voice your opinion on this story, connect with us at AzOpinions@iniusa.org.

Richard Dyer
Managing Editor | East Valley
@RHDyer

rdyer@iniusa.org

Meet Richard
Richard Dyer has worked at Independent Newsmedia Inc. USA since 1987, starting his career in Apache Junction as a copy editor and being promoted over the years to work as the editor of the Mesa Independent, news services editor for the East Valley office in Apache Junction, managing editor for the East Valley office, news services editor for the East Valley office and eventually also for the newspapers at INI’s then-Chandler office, managing editor again and as a news editor covering Apache Junction/Gold Canyon and Queen Creek. He helped start the Florence Independent while the news editor covering Apache Junction and Mesa news. In January 2023, he became associate managing editor for the East Valley newspapers and in August 2023 became managing editor for the East Valley newspapers of Chandler/Tempe, Gilbert, Queen Creek, Florence, Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon, while also reporting on Mesa and Apache Junction/Gold Canyon.  

Community: Since 2009, he has worked as a volunteer to design The Blue Guitar Magazine, Blue Guitar Jr. magazine and Unstrung magazine, which are projects of The Arizona Consortium for the Arts; and since 2014, has been overseeing the art submissions. 

Education: University of Arizona with a master of arts in journalism and a bachelor of science in agricultural communication. Also continuing education at Mesa Community College in welding in a metal art sculpture class.

Random fact: Saw his first tornado on May 31, 2010, which was classified as an EF-2, as part of a stormchasing tour group.

Hobbies: He is an artist of welded-steel sculptures, selling his artwork at juried and non-juried art shows.