Nov. 8—Weatherford has a secret.

Tucked along a lane at the city's western tip, a team of skilled craftsmen are making the right stuff for the jets keeping America free and safe.

"If we have a military presence in any place in the world, chances are we have supported that effort through the equipment they use to maintain that aircraft," Keith Ridgeway, vice president and COO for General Aviation Industries, said last week before co-hosting a tour of the cavernous shop where ground support equipment gets made for the prime defense contractor Boeing.

"We are a company that makes ground support equipment," company president and CEO Paul Mauldin said.

Ridgeway and Maulden were particularly proud of the Weatherford manufacturer's contribution to the KC-46A Tanker.

Like it's name implies, that's the flying filling station that refuels jets in midair.

The 65 to 70 welders, machinists, engineers and others at General Aviation Industries make aviation support equipment that fits on a palm, is big as a school bus and everything in between, Ridgeway said.

"We are extremely proud to be a part of the KC-46," he said, describing a seamless, 50-plus year partnership with Boeing. "You think about that small part we may have played, you think about the maintenance of the aircraft — that fighter depends on us in a small way. We take that very serious, and we are proud to play a small role with Boeing in that effort."

That sentiment is returned from Boeing, which manufactures the tanker in Seattle.

Jerry Drelling, an official in Boeing's quality, operations and supply chain communications in Arlington, Virginia, said the little plant in Weatherford helps make American might loom larger.

"General Aviation Industries, a key part of America's industrial supply chain that builds the KC-46A, is delivering advanced capabilities to the U.S. Air Force," Drelling said. "The work taking place in Weatherford is vital, because it ensures mission readiness for the world's most advanced multi-role aerial refueling tanker — and that the crews flying the KC-46A will return home safely."

General Aviation does not mass produce anything. An order would be for one to 25 items.

"We don't get in a hurry to do anything," Ridgeway said. "We do strive to get it done on time and that it works flawlessly. It has to."

Mauldin and Ridgeway can talk about some of the products made in their roughly 50,000-square-foot prefab warehouse. Some, they can't.

"This installs the jet engine," Mauldin said, nodding toward a steel lift on wheels, kind of a menacing boat trailer, before gesturing to another contraption. "That one, we cannot discuss."

Ridgeway pointed to another product.

"We don't even know what it does," he said. "Nor, do we want to."

Even the names of the support parts General Aviation builds for the KC-46 tanker — there are 47 of them — only hint at their use:

—centerline drogue system hose reel installation and removal equipment;

—air separation module removal and installation equipment;

—APU Firex bottle removal and installation equipment;

—temporary flooring kit for aft lower lobe walkway;

—aerial refueling boom deployment dolly.

The national security element of GAI adds challenge to employee searches, many of which are initiated via ZipRecruiter.

"We don't post those in any way that will disclose what we do," Ridgeway said. "So our interviews are interesting."

Ridgeway, who joined General Aviation a little over a year ago, said he's been impressed by the Weatherford area workforce.

"One of the things I have noticed in the last, probably, four to six months, is the increase in the quality of the applicants that come into our facility," he said. "We look for military backgrounds. Some of them, they come in here and they say, 'Hey! I saw this in the field.' "

Employees live in Weatherford, Mineral Wells, Azle, Granbury, and as far off as Arlington.

Ridgeway said he and Mauldin have discussed reaching out to local school districts to plant interest in one day joining General Aviation.

He was very pleased to hear Mineral Wells ISD is hoping to convert an abandoned training building in the former Fort Wolters Army air base into a high-tech skills lab.

The lure of a less urban setting is what General Aviation's founder, Don Roach, was feeling when the aerospace engineer and Air Force veteran moved his company from Fort Worth to Weatherford a little more than 20 years ago.

Roach is retired now, but he retains an advisory role with the company. He provided a statement describing why he heard Weatherford calling:

"We were looking for a place out west in the Weatherford area to move our home," he wrote to the Weatherford Democrat. "We lived in Weatherford after I graduated from the University of Texas. After speaking with some key employees, the employees wanted to move out of the Metroplex west. The decision was made to move General Aviation near the Weatherford area. Only one employee out of 37 did not follow."

Full disclosure, Roach is Maudin's father-in-law, which is in keeping with family ties that are valued in the company.

Ridgeway's son, Colton, signed on after concluding his tour on an expeditionary unit ship with the Marines. He plans to spend a career here and further the mission his dad is undertaking.

"When I'm my dad's age, we've grown," he predicted. "And I'd like to see us double our production."

He'd also like to pass the mission to the next generation, his son and two daughters.

"Sure," Colton said. "That would be awesome if he grows up and grows interested in this business — or one of the two shes."