The dust has settled and most of the materials that sold at the Quartz Mountain Aerospace/Luscombe Aircraft Corporation (QMA/LAC) auction are already gone from the facility, according to QMA trustee, Janice Lloyd.

The total received for the auction was just a little over $2.6 million. "Overall, we are pleased with the sale," Lloyd said. The big ticket item, the 11E Type Certificate (TC) went for $500,000. According to figures worked out by John Swick, aviation writer and author of Luscombe's Golden Age, the 11E Type Certificate, itself, was worth $500,000. But Swick said the engineering data, including all drawings and other intellectual properties were worth another $500,000. The aircraft parts worth was approximately $300,000 and assembly tools would be worth another $100,000. If these were given in the 11E TC package, Swick estimates they were worth $1.4 million, purchased for $500,000. But, as trustee Lloyd stated, "The TC was worth what someone would pay for it."

That someone was Amir Zaki, owner of Amir Aircraft Parts in Sacramento, Calif. Swick thinks that Amir could build at least one 11E to sell very quickly to help offset the cost of his purchase. Lloyd said the original prototype, N1674B, went with the package of jigs, tooling, dies and some partially built planes. The engineering package according to Swick, worth as much as the TC, gives Amir Zaki a jump start.

If Zaki can produce the 11E, that will help soothe some broken dreams. Gary Pakhlevanyan, former Director of Engineering and Company FAA Designated Engineering Representative said "I just hope the new owner will keep the aircraft alive and in production, so all that hard work we did wasn't for nothing."

For some, going to the auction was cathartic. John Daniel, former President of QMA/LAC said in a letter to the editor in today's edition, "My first thought is that watching all of the proceedings is heart breaking. Being there was bitter sweet. Seeing many old friends, being greeted and hugged by former employees made the trip worthwhile. It was heartbreaking and bitter because I believe that none of this, up to and including the bankruptcy and sale had to happen."

The City of Altus supported the company from before it located here in 1996. Now the only proceeds that will be available to the City, according to Janice Lloyd, are net gains from the aircraft that was repossessed by the Economic Development Commission, and the money to be paid for utilities in preparation and conducting of the auction. The outstanding utility bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars, will not be paid. The repossessed aircraft was sold for $69,000 and a seven percent commission will be paid. Also there will be pro-rated fees for advertisements, utilities and transport of goods.

"The City will get their building back eventually," Lloyd said, but the Oklahoma Industrial Authority has a 22-year lease on the building because of the tax credits given QMA/LAC.

"All the machinery sold separately," Lloyd said, "as part of the other $2.1 million generated." She is filing the report of the sale to the state today, and that list will show the exact price for which each lot number sold. It will not indicate to whom it sold, as a protection of privacy.

John Daniel was reflecting on the affect of QMA's demise. "Many people were hurt when QMA crashed and burned; many of the employees were not paid in the end, and have been unable to find work. In rural Oklahoma the chances of finding another quality job like the ones at QMA are slim. Many former employees have left the area or the state to find work elsewhere (the opposite effect QMA should have had). All of the investors have watched their money slowly swirl in the toilet bowl until yesterday when they watched it go down the drain."

True, all true, but there is an one good outcome for former employees from the auction. According to Lloyd, there will be a fund of approximately $250,000 (post administrative expenses) from which wage claims of prior employees may be paid. Whether someone will be paid or not depends on their having filed a wage claim against the company within the proper time frame. Those that filed properly will share in that fund.

With QMA/LAC it seems there have always been questions. Now a new issue has been raised. Amir Zaki is, according to Lloyd, open to the idea of leaving his equipment here in Altus and going into production of the 11E. It will be between him, the Oklahoma Industrial Authority (who holds the lease on the former QMA facility) and the City of Altus to work out any such agreement. It is not known, at this time, whether Altus would be willing to still be involved in the 11E project.