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Bob Kelleher
Duluth, Minn.

Former Cirrus executive forms new company in Maine

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A former Duluth aircraft executive has formed a new airplane company in New England.

Alan Klapmeier co-founded Duluth-based Cirrus Design with his brother Dale in 1984, but last year Alan Klapmeier resigned as chairman of the company.

At the same time, Cirrus announced it would be going slow on its development of a new small jet. At the time, news reports indicated the company had rebuffed Alan Klapmeier's attempts to buy the jet project.

Now, he's re-emerged as head of Kestrel Aircraft, a start-up company with a composite airplane project that appears similar to Cirrus's composite, propeller driven airplanes, although the Kestrel is somewhat larger than the popular Cirrus SR-20 and SR-22.

Kestrel has secured a deal for financing and a headquarters in Brunswick Landing, Maine, where it expects to create 300 new jobs.