City and airport officials joined aviation entrepreneur Mark Spencer to cut the ribbon on new hangar and lab facilities for his company, Avilution.
Founded in 2010, software firm Avilution has developed the avionics package it calls eXtensible Flight System or XFS. Using the suite of XFS applications, a user can build a complete avionics package with off-the-shelf components from a variety of vendors. Avilution also provides engineering services in support of its XFS products.
The firm’s new facilities, a $3 million investment, include 7,000 square feet of hangar space and 6,000 square feet of lab and office space.
“Thanks in large part to the vision and support of the Huntsville International Airport and the City of Huntsville, Avilution is pleased to establish this unique incubator for integrating and advancing both civilian and military avionics from traditional and non-traditional vendors through a modular open systems approach,” said Mark Spencer, Avilution founder and XFS architect. “This facility supports improving both existing legacy aircraft as well as the next generation of fixed wing, rotary wing, drones and urban air mobility.”
Before he founded Avilution, Spencer founded Digium and created the Asterisk Open Source telephony platform. He is an airline transport-rated pilot with more than 3,000 flight hours and ratings in Eclipse 500, DC-3 and land and sea planes. He also volunteers with FlyQuest, a Huntsville based nonprofit that works to attract young people to aviation careers.
