Moody Aviation, the aviation training arm of Chicago-based Moody Bible Institute, has started work on a 21,600-square-foot hangar facility at Felts Field, in Spokane Valley, where it will move its operations from Tennessee next summer.


Meantime, three additional hangars are well under way at Felts Field and are expected to be completed yet this year.


Town & Country Builders Inc., of Spokane, is constructing all four buildings.


The $750,000 Moody hangar is going up along Rutter Parkway, just east of the Northwest MedStar air-ambulance service facility and on the south side of the airport, says Cecil Bedford, aviation department manager at Moody.


The hangar will be split into three equal-sized parts: an airplane-storage area, a maintenance area, and a two-story office-and-classroom area, Bedford says. The structure is slated to be completed early next spring, he says.


Moody Aviation trains pilots and mechanics who transport missionaries in remote areas, including parts of Africa, South America, Russia, and Alaska. In some cases, the pilots are missionaries themselves, Bedford says.


Moody announced in early 2003 its plans to move its training program to Spokane. Its seeking approval from Washington state to offer a bachelors degree here in missionary aviation technology. The organization currently offers that degree at a training facility in Elizabethton, Tenn.


Pending approval from Washington state, Moody plans to start offering classes here next July and will team up with Community Colleges of Spokane, which offers an aircraft-maintenance program now and will administer the bulk of the flight program, Bedford says. The program in Tennessee will close down in June, he says.


Moody expects to start the program here with eight airplanes, about a dozen employees, and a flight class of about 20 students.


The other three hangars being built at Felts Field are being erected in the northeastern portion of the airfield.


Jeff Hamilton, of Spokane, says hes developing one of the buildings, a 10,000-square-foot hangar that will accommodate his three personal airplanes and one that he uses for an equipment leasing company he owns called Delta Tango Corp. Currently, he stores the aircraft at scattered sites at Felts Field.


Hamilton expects the new hangar to be completed in late November. He declines to disclose the cost of the project.


The other two hangars are being developed by Pemberton & Sons Aviation LLC, a Spokane company that restores and maintains antique airplanes.


Addison Pemberton, the companys owner, says one 4,500-square-foot hangar will house Pemberton & Sons machine shop and a smaller, 3,600-square-foot hangar will be used for storage.


Pemberton & Sons has reached a sale agreement with a buyer for its current hangar at Felts Field and plans to move into its new facility in November.


Pemberton declines to disclose the cost of that project.