$1 Million Debt Too Much For Aircraft Manufacturer?

Tiger Aircraft LLC ended a long and tortured journey to bankruptcy on Tuesday with a formal filing in West Virginia court. And, based on the company's filing, almost everything (including a valid type certificate) needed to build a sporty airplane based on a proven design could be obtained for what amounts to chump change in most aerospace endeavors. Tiger's filing says it owes its various creditors about $930,000 while its assets, including parts and tooling, total more than $3.26 million. In 1999 Tiger obtained the type certificate for the four-place, 180-hp low-wing airplane with the unique sliding canopy and started production in 2001 in Martinsburg, W. Va. The company built only a handful of aircraft and began laying off staff last year. By November, the company announced its buildings were for sale in a last-ditch attempt to raise capital.