Northwest Aerospace News August | September Issue No. 4 | Page 22

H
ow, of all places, did the world’s
only builder of composite aircraft floats
for private aviation land its business in
arguably the most unlikely of places,
probably best known for being a timber
and lumber town?
It might be a stretch but Washington
State’s Interstate 5 — or at least dealing
with all it brings, and takes — helped
lead Tom Hamilton and Aerocet to
Priest River, Idaho over 30 years ago.
What was a gamble seems to have
paid off for Hamilton, the town, and
employees.
“Tom used to be over in Arlington,
Washington,” Aerocet CEO Garry
Hojan said. It was there that he had a
company called Glasair, which man-
ufactured the world’s first molded
composite kit aircraft.
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NORTHWEST AEROSPACE NEWS
Composites use polymer or epoxy resin to bind layers of fiberglass and carbon
together. “It could be Kevlar or any number of materials,” Hojan explained. “We
particularly specialize in E-glass and S-glass,” he added.