Armand Rivard Attempting to Foreclose On Lanshe

The continuing drama surrounding Lanshe Aerospace has hit a new low. After months of rumors of various legal skirmishes, at least one questionable aircraft sale, and a number of conflicting actions/statements from Lanshe Aero's principal, Wadi Rahim (below, right); Lake Aircraft owner Armand Rivard has filed suit to recover the Lake Aircraft line.

Rivard's legal filings seem to implicate Lanshe (et al) in a pattern of deception, breach of contract, bad business practices and the use of the Lake Aircraft assets in ways that may not be fully lawful or within the agreements they had entered into, previously. The coming legal battle is due to be a complicated one judging by the tone and content of various documents now in the public domain. Rivard is now attempting to protect what he attempted to sell to Rahim for "fear that the Property is likely to be sold, destroyed, concealed, or removed from the jurisdiction of the court, or transferred to an innocent purchaser."

This is not the first skirmish various entities have had with Lanshe, which has acquired a contentious reputation over the past year. Previously, ANN had reported the story of Lanshe's "first" production aircraft sale to a Texas pilot. It seemed like good news at first... especially to those of us who spent a LOT of time with that series of airplanes and grew to love them.

ANN soon learned that this was NOT a new production ship, but one that had been "completed" well before Micco shut their doors when the Seminoles pulled the plug on what was (then) a promising aircraft company. Worse, the next rumors to circulate said that the bird that was delivered was "never meant to be sold to the public," to boot, and was actually a VERY tired old test vehicle that had seen some pretty tough usage. Intrigued (and concerned); ANN staffers contacted Lanshe Aerospace and were initially given a very positive update that promised that Lanshe was getting ready to produce one of the old Micco birds a month and one of the Lakes each month, as well.

As ANN sought particulars about that first aircraft, (then) Lanshe salesman Keith Martinich (at first) seemed to forget the specifics (even the 'N' number) of the ONLY aircraft they had yet sold... to Debra Cunningham of TX. As ANN got into a bit more detail, Martinich's memory improved to the point where he disclosed the serial number and a little more of the history of the aircraft, repeatedly informing us that this was a "new" airplane since it had "never" before been titled. FAA records showed it (then) titled to Lanshe and its year of manufacture as 2000. A previous registration, to the original manufacturer, Micco Aircraft, had also been recorded.

We contacted officials of the now-defunct Micco Aircraft operation as the details got (increasingly) murky, and were told in no uncertain terms that the aircraft in question, N820SP, was "NOT a new airplane." As previously noted, this machine had been a test vehicle that was converted over to an SP26 AFTER serving a tough role as an SP20 test aircraft.

Ms. Cunningham came to understand this as well. Debra Cunningham was a highly motivated commercial and instrument rated pilot who had moved up to her SP26 from a Bellanca Viking, and loved what the SP26 was all about. "They're just beautiful airplanes, very exciting" she said. But her rapture with the sexy little two seat taildragger gave way to concern as a number of maintenance issues occurred... including "popped rivets" and worrisome landing gear issues. Cunningham's concern continued to grow as she learned that her new airplane, sold to her as a factory demonstrator, wasn't even a new SP26... but a homogenized convert from the SP20 program... and had been a part of some of the most rigorous tests that the certification program would undertake.

"That puppy was rode hard and put up wet..." one former Micco staffer told us. The aircraft had been used in a number of iterations as a test vehicle. It conducted Vd dive testing, and was saved once by a spin chute when early attempts to produce a spinnable aircraft ran into problems and the aircraft entered an unrecoverable spin. A number of assemblies were damaged, bent, and "crunched," during testing -- to be replaced and updated as the aircraft took on each new task... but according to former Micco Aircraft President Dewitt Beckett, "that aircraft should never have been sold to the public... it was OK to use as a factory bird and a demonstrator, where we could keep an eye on it and keep learning from it, but selling it is a serious 'safety of flight' issue and I can't believe that they sold it to a buyer without disclosing this history. I wouldn't have touched it with a ten foot pole. Heck, I remember promising an FAA person that we would never sell that airplane... that it would only be a factory ship."

We got back to Lanshe quickly and confronted them with our discussions with Cunningham and Beckett... which, by then, did not sit well with Lanshe's Martinich. Martinich became difficult to talk to, this time around. We kept asking questions and he kept asking us what the question was... but in response to some repeated inquiries, he eventually stated that Ms. Cunningham was still "very happy with her airplane," and feigned surprise when we said that she was not and had said so to us just a few hours earlier. Later in the conversation, he announced that he knew we had talked to her and that he had talked to her again, since... still trying to assert that Cunningham was a happy customer and that no misrepresentations had been made. We attempted to discuss the history of the aircraft... which Martinich flatly refused to get into, in any real detail. Martinich eventually noted that the aircraft (N820SP, SN 26001) "never went through anything abnormal... and never did anything that every aircraft doesn't also do when it's built and certified. It's no different than any other."

Martinich repeatedly denied any misrepresentation(s) over the sale of the aircraft. Though a number of his statements conflicted with others he had given earlier, as our questioning persisted he became insulting and the call was terminated... but not before he tried to sell ANN an airplane, too...

Beckett flatly denied this revisionist history, calling Martinich's statements "absolutely untrue. That airplane was spun, it was worked hard, it used a spin chute, it was used in flutter testing, and was not a truly standard airplane... he's just not telling the truth about that airplane." Cunningham has also (since) talked to Beckett and now voices strong concern over flying her airplane, as a result. "I had concerns before (citing the rivet problem), and now I wouldn't put my husband in it... I know they haven't been truthful with me. I really am worried."

Cunningham paid $150K for the bird -- well below the normal price for a new SP26... but thought that the price difference (as she was told) was because of the aircraft's former status as a 480 hour factory demonstrator.

Ultimately; Cunningham got her money back... but not without a lot of trouble and heartache and some very questionable actions and statements on the part of Lanshe...

Now... in light of the recent revelations disclosed by Lake's Armand Rivard as well as other data we've collected from a number of other sources (including our interaction with Lanshe), our concerns over the course of Lanshe and the future of the Micco and Lake Aircraft lines has reached a critical level. Mind you; this is a matter that is going before the courts and they will ultimately decide who did what to whom... but the previous history we've documented on Lanshe/Rahim does nothing to disprove Rivard's contentions.

It's sure to be an interesting, if sad, story... we'll keep you informed.

FMI: www.lakeaircraftvslansheaerospace.com