Pictured is the new Luscombe Light Sport that will be built in Jamestown. The photo was posted Nov. 13 on the company’s website blog.

The latest addition to the Chautauqua County Airport in Jamestown needs the county’s help, again, to get up and running.

The Luscombe Aircraft Corp. of Chino, Calif., is leasing Hangar A at the airport to build and refurbish airplanes. The company recently received a $322,000 low-interest loan from the county Industrial Development Agency that was financed with CARES Act money.

Luscombe’s lease with the county is $1,850 rent with a monthly rent credit of up to $500 a month for capital improvements, which means the company would be paying $1,350 a month.

That credit is not to exceed $48,000. Rent stays the same for the first four years of the lease before increasing 2% or based on the Consumer Price Index, depending on which is lower, for the fifth through 20th years of the lease.

Now, Luscomb is asking for the county to help out again. According to a resolution scheduled for discussion next week by the County Legislature’s Public Facilities Committee, loan guarantees secured by Luscombe through the IDA and other sources aren’t enough to pay for the utility and building improvements necessary to renovate the county’s airport hangar into the type of space Luscombe needs. The company is asking the county to receive rent credits of up to $1,000 a month to help pay the capital improvement costs, taking the monthly rent payment to $850 a month. The maximum credit amount is still $48,000.

In addition to the county’s help with rent credits, the company is working to sell the first four Luscombe LSA’s it has made to keep the project moving.

“As everyone knows we need sales to keep our crew employed,” Luscombe officials said in a blog post in mid-November. “We’re looking at selling the first four (4) Luscombe LSA’s at a steep discount to keep everything moving along during this Covid shut down. We look forward to hearing from you and to orders for the first four Luscombes off the assembly line.”

Luscombe has acquired the rights to produce planes that resemble the former Legacy aircraft brand. According to an April article by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, there are about 1,600 registered Luscombe aircraft on the Federal Aviation Administration’s registry. Luscombe made two-seat, all-metal, tailwheel airplanes starting in the 1930s before stopping production in 1950. The company wants to build two types of planes locally — a small general aviation aircraft and a sporty version of the same aircraft. Customers for the planes would include entry level pilots and flight schools, with a goal of making around 100 aircraft a year within five years after production starts. Additionally, owners of the remaining 1,600 older Luscombe planes could have new parts made in Jamestown from the original Luscombe jigs.

“As with almost every business, COVID-19 has slowed us down,” company officials said in a blog post Nov. 13 on their website, luscombeair.com. “To be sure, not being able to attend any events, as we had planned, prevented us from marketing the new company face to face with potential buyers. We really appreciate your business and support over the last year. It’s been a great move and we’re ready to get this off the ground. We are now starting the Luscombe LSA Model 8 production. We’ve had several discussions on pricing and are keeping the cost as low as possible. Steve Testrake engineered and designed a new retro dash, we’ve digitized several thousand drawings and started making parts for the new LSA.”