Plans for a Spanish aircraft company to build a manufacturing center in Natchez are still moving along — slowly.

Natchez Mayor Larry L. &uot;Butch&uot; Brown knows several U.S. military leaders want the CASA&160;transport planes which would be built in Natchez — now they just have to prove they need them.

&uot;The aircraft has made a positive impact on all the parties who have studied it,&uot;&160;Brown said.

But while several generals have expressed an interest in the planes, which would be built in Natchez if CASA&160;is able to get U.S. contracts for the planes, money for them won’t likely make it into this year’s budget.

&uot;I don’t want to say it’s a setback,&uot; Brown said. &uot;But we’ve got to supply more data.&uot;

Brown met about the CASA plans with U.S. Sens. Trent Lott and Thad Cochran in Washington, D.C., last week while he was in town for a U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting.

The 75-year-old CASA, Spain’s largest aircraft company, has a U.S. division but no manufacturing facilities here. The company exports 87 percent of its products, many to the United States.

In fact, Brown said, some U.S. government agencies already lease the plane CASA&160;would manufacture in Natchez. &uot;We need to convince them purchasing is better than leasing,&uot; he said.

But before the money for the planes can be included in an agency’s budget, the agency — whether it’s the U.S. Army or the Drug Enforcement Agency — has to prove it has a need. &uot;With the help of those agencies, we’ve got to get those preferences translated into requirements,&uot; Brown said. &uot;I don’t think we’re going to get (the money) in the (current) 106th Congress. We may get it in the 107th.&uot;

Brown also said the CASA&160;plane is cheaper than similar planes being considered — a comparison of $4.5 million to $6 million for the CASA&160;plane and up to $14 million for others.

&uot;It’s very cost-effective,&uot; Brown said.

The idea to bring CASA&160;to Natchez grew out of a friendship that began two years ago between Brown and the Spanish ambassador during the city’s celebration of the bicentennial of Spain’s ceding the Mississippi territory to the U.S.

&uot;We’ve covered a lot of ground in the last two years,&uot; Brown said. &uot;It’s a situation that when you take three giant steps forward something always pulls you back. But we’re still gaining on the goal.&uot;