Asheville Aviation Ascends

Construction of a new aviation manufacturing facility is underway in Asheville. GE Aviation broke ground on a $ 124 million plant this week. The site will produce CMC's (ceramic matrix composite) materials, for jet engines. The CMCs replace metal and make for a more efficient engine with better combustion and less emissions. 
 
"This material has been in development, at least in our research labs for almost years.. It's used in small scale production in rocket loaders. It hasn't been economically feasible or frankly, we have not known enough about the material to use it in large scale production," said Mike Kauffman is  General Manager of Composites Manufacturing for GE.
 
This will be the first time CMCs are mass produced. G-E Aviation plans to add 50 jobs and have 340 employees working at the plant within five years. The facility should be operational by early 2015.