There's another good Smithsonian Channel documentary this weekend, this one spotlighting African American pioneers in aviation.

"Black Wings" tells the stories of black aviators -- from barnstormers to war fighters -- who broke the racial barriers that for many years kept black Americans from pursuing their dreams of flying.

The documentary tells the story of the Tuskegee Red-Tail Angels, the first African American pilots to train for combat during World War II (the Red-Tails are also the subject of a new George Lucas film).

Bessie Coleman (left), the first African American woman with a pilot's license, is also profiled. In the 1920s, no one in the United States would train a black woman to fly, so Coleman earned enough money to travel to France and train there. She returned to American and became a barnstorming stunt pilot.

For more stories like these, tune in to "Black Wings" on Saturday, February 11 at 9 p.m. or Thursday February 16 at 8 p.m.

Smithsonian Channel is on Time Warner Cable digital channel 1264, DirecTV 565 and 1565, and AT&T U-Verse 118 and 1118.

A couple that teaches flight lessons out of Sanford plans to open a facility in Halifax County that will build small airplanes designed in the Czech Republic.

Their company, LSA America, will receive state and local incentives worth up to $272,000 if it meets it goals of hiring 34 people and investing $400,000 in the production facility, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced.

LSA is a four-year-old company started by Doug and Betty Hempstead, who also run B Bar D Aviation, the Sanford flight school. LSA has been the U.S. distributor for the Allegro light sport aircraft and recently bought the Czech company behind the brand.

Worldwide production will be out of Littleton, said Doug Hempstead. The company had considered opening its manufacturing facility in Wisconsin, but decided on Halifax County.

N.C. Commerce Secretary J. Keith Crisco is scheduled to return today from an economic recruiting trip in Europe. But so far, he's coming back empty-handed.

The trip was tied to the the massive Farnborough International Airshow near London, where economic developers touted North Carolina as an attractive place for aerospace and aviation companies.

Crisco also met with five unnamed companies in Denmark, Switzerland, and France before the show. Other Commerce officials met with several more companies before Crisco arrived on Tuesday.

While Commerce spokesman Tim Crowley declined to provide many details, he noted that other target industries included biotechnology, health care, advanced manufacturing and information technology.

Crisco passed along that he is seeing "more significant leads this year," Crowley said. And "there is more energy behind discussions and some more buzz about NC" in the aerospace world following the July 1 grand opening of Spirit AeroSystems' massive factory in the Global TransPark.

The first major tenant of the N.C. Global TransPark is moving closer to actually making products at its massive factory under construction in Kinston.

Spirit AeroSystems on Thursday received a ceremonial key to its 500,000 square-foot facility from its contractor.

The factory is scheduled to begin building fuselages for Airbus’ new A350 passenger aircraft in July with a team of about 250 workers. Hiring has already begun, officials told the Kinston Free Press.

The plant, located about 80 miles southeast of Raleigh in Lenoir County, is expected to eventually employ more than 1,000 people. The Wichita, Kan.-based company is posting some information on the plant's progress online here.

Michelin North America plans to expand its aviation-tire factory in Stanly County and create 74 jobs during the next three years.

The company will add tire retreading production at the facility in Norwood, about 100 miles southwest of Raleigh. The factory already produces new tires for commercial planes, military jets and more, and employs about 320 people. Retreading involves recycling used tires with new shells to produce cheaper tires.

Michelin will receive a $620,000 state grant to create the new jobs. The jobs will pay average annual wages of $35,784, Gov. Bev Perdue's office announced today.

Gov. Beverly Perdue said this morning that she was not surprised that the N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston missed out as a site for a production facility for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

"North Carolina has not been on the short list for this facility for several months," Perdue said during a telephone news conference from China, where she is on a trade mission. It was one of the first times an N.C. official has acknowledged that Boeing was considering a site here.

But Perdue said there still are ongoing talks with Boeing about the company building other facilities in this state, Rob Christensen reports. She said plans to meet with Boeing officials within the next two weeks.

"It ain't over til it's over," she said.

On Wednesday, Boeing CEO Jim McNerney announced that the company had narrowed its choices for a second Dreamliner assembly line to Everett, Wash., and Charleston, S.C. A decision is expected within weeks.

It was the second time this decade that Boeing has passed over the Kinston business park for an assembly factory. But state officials have made clear they're committed to attracting additional aviation and aerospace companies to the park.

Boeing has blown off North Carolina, again. South Carolina still has a chance.

CEO Jim McNerney told Wall Street analysts on an earnings conference call today that the company has narrowed its choices for a second 787 Dreamliner assembly plant to Charleston, S.C., and Everett, Wash. He expects to announce a decision in the next couple of weeks.

The N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston was cited as a competitor for the new plant in a report that Washington state officials used to lobby Boeing.

The Kinston park, about 90 miles southeast of Raleigh, also was in the running for a Boeing assembly plant earlier this decade, but lost to Washington.

It's not clear whether North Carolina was a legitimate contender this time, since state and local officials have kept quiet about any efforts to lure Boeing here, despite vocal lobbying in Washington state. But Gov. Bev Perdue and others repeatedly have said they want to expand this state's aerospace and aviation industries and attract new jobs.

Also today, Boeing reported a $1.56 billion third-quarter loss, one of the biggest in its history. The loss was partly because of delays in the 787 Dreamliner program.