The aerospace industry has long been a leading manufacturing sector in Arizona, housing such giant worldwide names as Honeywell, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin (maker of the famous SR-71 Blackbird reconnaissance jet), as well as numerous smaller aviation parts firms.  Much of Arizona’s economy is tied to the good-paying jobs that these companies provide.   It’s rather sad then to see that Honeywell Aerospace, a firm that has provided avionics and weapons systems for the U.S. military since World War II, will be shuttering plants in Phoenix, Arizona and moving some operations to Mexico and the Czech Republic.  700 Honeywell workers will lose their jobs in the move. The plant being closed has built jet engines for almost 60 years and has been a hallmark of the modern American aviation age. An irony of this plant closing is that, in addition to housing much of America’s aerospace defense industry, Arizona is home to U.S. senator John McCain, an ardent champion of America’s naval aviators and Air Force.  Curiously, Sen. McCain has been a consistent opponent of the very “Buy America” provisions in U.S. legislation that would help American defense manufacturers remain competitive against illegally subsidized foreign production. And so, right under the nose of one of America’s famous military aviators, the renowned Honeywell Aerospace is quietly folding up one of its shops and moving its military aerospace production overseas.   John McCain, are you paying attention?