Spokane Turbine Center, a missionary-pilot training nonprofit started here in 2008, has bought from Spokane Airports two structures at Felts Field that it previously had leased. One is a 24,000-square-foot hangar, and the other is a 9,800-square-foot, two-floor office building.

Spokane Turbine CEO Dennis Elrod says the organization completed the $280,000 purchase at the end of February. The organization has made more than $2.7 million in upgrades to the buildings at 5627 E. Rutter since 2008, he says.

"Because of its history, we wanted to restore this building," Elrod says, speaking of the main office building. "Practicalitywise, it would have been way cheaper to tear down the building."

Both the office building and hangar were constructed in the 1920s and were home to the 116th Observation Squadron, 41st Division Aviation of the Washington National Guard before it moved to Fairchild Air Force Base during World War II.

Spokane Turbine did a complete remodel of the building's interior to match the original look and feel, restoring the original hardwood floors and fireplace among other renovations, says Bernice Ellis, development coordinator for Spokane Turbine Center. It plans to remodel the second floor to match the rest of the building, which is largely used for storage currently, she says. Once remodeled, that space will be used for classrooms and offices, she says. In the hangar, all the windows were replaced, and new plumbing and a new electrical system were installed, Elrod says.

The center has two planes, a new turbine-powered Kodiak manufactured by Sandpoint-based Quest Aircraft that it purchased in 2008 for $1.7 million, and a used Dakota plane manufactured by Piper Aircraft, based in Vero Beach, Fla., that was donated to the organization in 2010.

Elrod, who previously worked in Indonesia with JAARS, a missionary organization based in Waxhaw, N.C., was appointed CEO of the nonprofit in September 2011. He has been a pilot for more than 25 years.

Elrod says the organization's operating budget for this year is $850,000, down from the year earlier due to restructuring its programs during the first quarter of this year.

Spokane Turbine Center currently employs two full-time and four part-time workers and has two volunteers. Elrod says as funding increases, the center will be able to increase the number of people on staff.

Although the center owns the hangar, Moody Bible Institute uses a majority of the space there for its aviation training program, and it will continue to use that hangar, Ellis says. The center also uses some of the space in the hangar to store its two planes, she says.

Currently the facility has 18 full-time equivalent staff on the grounds, which includes staff employed by Moody and Quest, separate from Spokane Turbine, Elrod says.

"We have a very close working relationship with Quest," Elrod says.

The organization's purchase of its first plane from Quest enabled it to begin training pilots for mission groups before those organizations even received a plane.

The center began offering training in 2009, Elrod says, in part because switching from piston plane to the Kodiak is "a dramatic shift" for pilots, who may be unfamiliar with the technical systems in the plane.

The organization offers flight and maintenance training on the PT6 turbine engine, which is used by the Kodiak planes; the Garmin G1000, a flight instrument system common in the plane; and in-plane flight training.

The center purchased a $9,000 flight simulator in 2008 that features the Garmin system, which enables pilots to practice different flight scenarios, such as flying at night, in poor weather, or practice what to do during mechanical failure. Elrod says the center also has access to land in Idaho and Montana that it uses to practice landing on terrain similar to what a mission pilot might encounter in Third World countries.

Elrod says about 200 people receive training at the center annually through its seven different training classes relating to the Kodiak and ad hoc training, which generally comes at the request of pilots for refresher courses.

Elrod says a three-week course at the center would cost about $25,000, but mission groups typically pay around $7,000, with the rest being offset by the Spokane Turbine Center, which receives most of its funding through private donors. Ellis adds the organization hasn't received a grant of any kind since opening, and says the organization used loans to purchase the property and Kodiak plane.

A shortage of aviation gasoline overseas, commonly referred to as avgas, forced many missions groups to upgrade from piston engine aircraft such as many Cessna planes, to turbine aircraft, which run on jet fuel, Elrod says.

Avgas is distinguished from gasoline used in cars by an additive used to increase engine combustion.

"We could not get gas for airplanes, and we had to upgrade," Elrod says.

Avgas-powered planes used by many missions groups cost about $150,000 to purchase, Elrod says, which compares with the $1.7 million cost of the Kodiak. He says that although the cost of upgrading is steep, decreased fuel costs make it more affordable in the long run.

He adds avgas is four to five times more expensive than jet fuel. Elrod describes jet fuel as highly refined kerosene, and says the Kodiak planes can run on kerosene and avgas.

"There's still some hold-out places" that use older aviation gas-powered planes, Elrod says.

Elrod estimates since opening, the center has had an economic impact of $6.2 million here stemming from people flying in for training and booking hotels or visiting Spokane businesses.