Stavatti Aerospace

Stavatti Aerospace Ltd.
Company typePrivately held company
Founded1994
FounderChristopher Beskar
Headquarters
Niagara Falls, New York
,
United States
Key people
Websitestavatti.com

Stavatti Aerospace Ltd. is an American company headquartered in Niagara Falls, New York that purports to operate in the aerospace industry. Founded in 1994, its CEO is Christopher Beskar. Skepticism about Stavatti Aerospace's claims regarding its business and operations have been repeatedly raised by media throughout its existence, and the company has been involved in several legal disputes.

History

Early history

Stavatti Aerospace was co-founded by Christopher Beskar, a self-described Star Trek fan, in 1994 while a student at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.[3] Beskar was joined in the venture by his father, a former Alaska Bush pilot who died a few years later.[4]

In 1998 – two years after graduating university – Beskar started planning to take over a derelict Bell Aircraft manufacturing plant in Niagara County, New York to produce combat aircraft for the United States armed forces and U.S. allies.[4] Niagara County Industrial Development Agency (NCIDA) head John Simon discussed the potential of extending economic incentives to Stavatti to support their proposal, though the project was eventually shelved.[4][5]

By the early 2000s, according to Vice, Stavatti was "the industrial equivalent of an internet troll, spreading titillating graphics depicting futuristic airplanes it stood little chance of ever producing".[6] According to Wired, the company was "famous for its extravagant claims about advanced aircraft and weapons" and was known for "calling up Pentagon offices" to pitch its designs.[7]

In 2008, Stavatti acquired the designs of the ATG Javelin from Aviation Technology Group following that company's bankruptcy.[6] A decade later, Stavatti was among four or five companies to bid on a replacement for the United States Air Force's T-38 trainer, marketing the Javelin design for that purpose, though – according to Smithsonian Magazine – it was considered an "extreme longshot".[8][6] The contract to replace the T-38 was ultimately awarded to Boeing.[9]

Abbotsford plan

In 2019, economic development officials in Abbotsford, British Columbia reported that Stavatti was eyeing Abbotsford as the location for a possible plant that would employ up to 10,000 people and would open by 2022, and that it recently received $1.5 billion in private funding.[10] The Abbotsford News noted that it was unable to confirm the veracity of the claimed funding, was unable to get in contact with Stavatti's CEO, and was unable to access Stavatti's website.[10] It reported the company had "a reputation for having big ideas that never come to fruition".[10]

Return to Niagara

By 2020, Simon – who had left the NCIDA in 2003 – was working for Stavatti as its chief strategic development and asset officer.[5] That year, the NCIDA awarded Stavatti several tax subsidies to support Beskar's decades-old plan to, according to the Niagara Express, "build military and commercial jets at a vacant military hangar in Niagara Falls".[11] At the time, according to Buffalo Business First, the company pledged it would create 590 jobs in the area by 2025.[12] According to the Buffalo News, as of 2021, there was no evidence Stavatti had "produced a single airplane" of its own design in the company's then 26-year history.[13] Its only known facilities were a "one-person office suite", a "machine shop ... slightly larger than a basketball court", and Beskar's house.[13]

In February 2023, according to The Buffalo News, one of Stavatti's investors sued the company, alleging racketeering and fraud and claiming the company was a ponzi scheme.[14][15][16]

NCIDA subsequently rescinded the subsidies it had awarded in 2020, citing little progress by the company on its plan, and several local construction contractors filed lawsuits alleging nonpayment or underpayment by Stavatti on services they had provided.[14]

In December 2024, Stavatti was evicted from some of the space it had been occupying in Niagara Falls.[17] Several months later, in March 2025, a staff editorial in The Buffalo News opined that "Stavatti Aerospace has worn out its welcome" in Niagara Falls and that it was time for Beskar "to pack up his computer-generated images and go".[18] The column went on to allege that "after five years of unfulfilled promises, unsubstantiated claims and unpaid debts, 9400 Porter Road still looks much the same as when the company moved in: vacant and inactive" and that "Stavatti has not produced a single airplane – military, commercial or otherwise".[18]

Personnel

David Wilcock is the company's director of advanced technology.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Leadership". stavatti.com. . Archived from the original on June 3, 2025. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Stavatti Aerospace Briefing". stavatti.com. Stavatti Aerospace. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2025. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  3. ^ Epstein, Jonathan (December 22, 2023). "Stavatti Aerospace Asks Niagara IDA to Extend Tax Breaks". The Buffalo News. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  4. ^ a b c Prohaska, Thomas (December 21, 1998). "2 Minnesotans Want to Develop Warplane Plant". The Buffalo News. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  5. ^ a b Epstein, Jonathan (September 10, 2020). "Wyoming Startup Eyes Porter Site". The Buffalo News. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  6. ^ a b c Axe, David (February 10, 2017). "A Company That's Never Made a Plane Wants to Build the Air Force's New Jets". Vice. Archived from the original on June 3, 2025. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
  7. ^ Weinberger, Sharon (June 18, 2008). "Frontline Aerospace: Another Stavatti?". Wired. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  8. ^ Freed, David (December 2017). "Meet the Jets Competing to Become the Next Air Force Trainer". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  9. ^ Cohen, Rachel (June 29, 2023). "T-7 Red Hawk trainer jet takes its first flight". Air Force Times. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  10. ^ a b c Olsen, Tyler (October 18, 2019). "Small Company Behind Plans for Aerospace Plant". Abbotsford News. Retrieved June 3, 2025.
  11. ^ Genco, Joseph (March 28, 2024). "Stavatti Air loses tax breaks". Niagara Express. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  12. ^ Fink, James (November 2, 2020). "Stavatti Aerospace lands in Niagara County, aiming to create 590 jobs in next five years". Buffalo Business First. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Prohaska, Thomas (February 22, 2021). "Is craft designer a visionary or just a dreamer?". The Buffalo News. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  14. ^ a b Epstein, Jonathan (March 16, 2025). "Aersopace Firm Failed to Deliver on Lofty Promises at Air Base". The Buffalo News. Retrieved May 25, 2025.
  15. ^ "Case 2:23-cv-00226-DJH" (PDF). Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  16. ^ "Stavatti Aerospace's Niagara County plans yield little". The Buffalo News. March 16, 2025. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  17. ^ Finnerty, Ryan (May 4, 2025). "Obscure start-up wants to compete for the US Navy's new trainer jet". FlightGlobal. Retrieved May 26, 2025.
  18. ^ a b "The Editorial Board: Stavatti Aerospace should stop making empty promises, pay its creditors and go". The Buffalo News. March 19, 2025. Retrieved May 26, 2025.

Further reading

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