FlightSafety purchases Frasca International

Frasca is a more than 60-year designer and manufacturer of flight simulators, training devices, and simulation components, and FlightSafety International is a Columbus, Ohio-based company operating the world’s largest number of advanced full-flight simulators and learning centers.

Frasca announced the sale on January 6 but has also stated that it will keep operating under the Frasca International name and that there will be no major changes for the operation. Frasca President John Frasca will remain in place along with the management team and employees. The company also will retain ownership of Frasca Field in Urbana.

Frasca Marketing Manager Peggy Prichard told The News-Gazette that “over the years, there have been other companies interested in acquiring Frasca, but FlightSafety was the right buyer at the right time.”

Prichard told The News-Gazette that the two companies “already have a long history of collaboration dating back to the friendship of their aviation pioneer founders, the late Rudy Frasca and the late Al Ueltschi.”

Frasca’s founder was a flight instructor for the U.S. Navy who built the company’s first flight simulator in his garage.

Last year, Frasca announced that it was a subcontractor for FlightSafety’s training defense projects for the Navy. “The contract called for FlightSafety subsidiary FlightSafety Defense to provide instructional services and availability for 18 Frasca-designed and manufactured Level 6 and Level 7 flight-training devices,” stated The News-Gazette.

FlightSafety Director of Internal and External Communications Staci Perkins told The News-Gazette, “the company has traditional strength in high-quality training in large Level D simulators, and Frasca’s strength in training development and ab initio (early) flight training makes this partnership beneficial for both entities."