Stratford Army Engine Plant The Stratford Army Engine Plant ( SAEP ) was a U . S . Army Tank - Automotive and Armaments Command installation and manufacturing facility located in Stratford , Connecticut , where it was sited along the Housatonic River and Main Street , opposite Sikorsky Airport . The plant was originally built in 1929 as Sikorsky Aero Engineering Corporations ' s manufacturing facility . The Sikorsky S - 39 , Sikorsky S - 40 " Flying Forest " , Sikorsky S - 41 , Sikorsky S - 42 " Clipper " and Sikorsky S - 43 " Baby Clipper " were built in this plant , which had a seaplane ramp for launching the aircraft into the Housatonic River . When sales of amphibians fell in the late 1930s , due to the growing popularity of land - based aircraft , Sikorsky was merged with the Chance Vought Company by their parent United Aircraft in 1938 . The Vought - Sikorsky company then built the Vought - Sikorsky VS - 44 , Vought - Sikorsky OS2U Kingfisher , Vought - Sikorsky F4U Corsair and Vought - Sikorsky V - 173 in the facility . After the combined company was broken into Vought Aircraft and Sikorsky Aircraft in January 1943 , Vought built the Vought TBY Sea Wolf , Vought XF5U , Vought F6U Pirate and prototype Vought F7U Cutlass in the facility . Igor Sikorsky , given $ 250 , 000 for helicopter development by United Aircraft , also developed the Vought - Sikorsky VS - 300 , Vought - Sikorsky VS - 316 R - 4 , Vought - Sikorsky VS - 327 R - 5 and Vought - Sikorsky VS - 316B R - 6 in the plant . Sikorsky ' s production was moved to a plant in Bridgeport Connecticut in 1943 and Vought production was moved to an empty US government facility in Dallas Texas in 1949 . In 1954 Sikorsky moved the majority of their manufacturing to a new plant on the north side of Stratford , further up the Housatonic River . This move left the Stratford plant vacant , and soon afterward , flooding from the Housatonic River damaged much of the facility . The US Air Force purchased the facility in 1951 and renamed it Air Force Plant No . 43 . Avco Corporation became the contractor operating the plant and they repaired the damaged buildings , and built dikes . Avco moved a company they owned , Lycoming into the plant in the same year and began manufacturing Wright R - 1820 piston engines and General Electric J47 components there . In 1952 Lycoming had Anselm Franz set up a turbine engine development effort in the plant and the Lycoming T53 , Lycoming T55 , Lycoming PLF1 , Lycoming LTS101 / LPT101 , Lycoming ALF 502 , Lycoming AGT1500 and Lycoming TF - 40 turbine engines were all designed , developed and manufactured in this facility . By 1968 , 10 , 000 people were employed in the plant . In 1976 , the plant was transferred from the Air Force to the Army and renamed the Stratford Army Engine Plant . Production of the LTS - 101 and LPT - 101 turbine engines was moved to Williamsport , Pennsylvania beginning in 1980 . In 1987 Avco was purchased by Textron to become Textron Lycoming and in 1995 , Allied Signal acquired the Lycoming Turbine Engine Division in Stratford . By this time , employment in the plant had fallen to 2 , 900 people . In late 1995 , Allied Signal announced that production would be shifted to its facility in Phoenix Arizona . In September 1998 , Allied Signal concluded operations in the plant and returned it to the US Army . AGT1500 production was shifted by the Army to the Anniston Army Depot ( ANAD ) in Anniston , Alabama . It occupied a tract and included 49 industrial buildings and an earthen causeway that was built into the Housatonic River mudflats to provide for access by seaplane s . Because of the Base Realignment and Closure actions of the United States Department of Defense , closure of the plant was recommended in July 1995 . The SAEP closed on 30 September 1998 . For the next 11 years the Army was involved with " Team Stratford " to develop the property . The United States Army , which owns the site , auction ed it off on 19 March 2008 with a winning bid of $ 9 , 612 , 000 which also includes the facility of over 50 buildings . This bid failed to be paid off and is now being placed for rebid . Currently Robert Hartmann of Hartmann Development has a $ 1 billion plan to develop the former Army engine plant into a destination resort , dependent on the US government selling him the entire property for one dollar . The Connecticut Air and Space Center occupies part of the site .