Hummingbird program leaving SCLA for Arizona

June 14--VICTORVILLE -- After 17 years at Southern California Logistics Airport, Boeing will soon move its A160T Hummingbird flight test program to Arizona, where the unmanned helicopter is produced, Victorville officials announced Wednesday.

" I t re a l l y co m e s d ow n t o affordability of our operations," Boeing spokesperson Elaine Brabant said.

Boeing is preparing a new testing site for the Hummingbird near Mesa, Ariz. -- a move that will save transportation costs for the company.

The decision affects only the Hummingbird program and other flight testing remains in Victorville, Brabant said.

"We are saddened to see the Boeing Hummingbird program leave SCLA. However, it has reminded us how important we have been to each other in achieving our respective goals," Rya n M c E ac h ro n , Victorville mayor and c h a i r m a n o f S C L A , said in a statement. "Operating at SCLA, Boeing has been able to prove the unmanned Hummingbird helicopter as flight worthy and it has helped prove SCLA as an ideal location for the development of aviation systems and flight test operations."

T h e A 1 6 0 T Hummingbird, which is 35 feet long with a 36-foot rotor diameter, was developed to provide re co n n a i s s a n ce a n d direct attacks for the U.S. military.

The program has operated out of SCLA since July 1995, when it was originally developed by Frontier Systems, according to the release. The flight test activities have taken place since 2004 in a specially designated airspace for unmanned flight systems that's controlled by SCLA's air traffic control tower.

Boeing eventually expanding into a total of 39,868 square feet of hangar space at SCLA. Those facilities will be vacated within 90 days, according to a city press release.

A n o t h e r h e l i co p -- ter program left the city a year ago, when the Army transferred its Blawk Hawk unit to the Joint Forces Training Base in Los A l a m i t o s . Howeve r, demand for hangar space at SCLA has been high, and city officials believe that the Hummingbird units will be occupied by a tenant conducting similar operations.

Copyright 2012 - Daily Press, Victorville, Calif.