Chairman Of Chinese Parent Company Impressed At Oshkosh
Superior Air Parts, much lamented for its passing into
bankruptcy at the end of 2008, is back, and now under Chinese
ownership. Veteran powerplant company executive Tim Archer (at left
in photo) is the CEO of the company, which operates manufacturing
facilities in the US and China, and was joined at an AirVenture
news conference Monday by Cheng Shenzong (at right in photo),
Chairman of the Qingdao Brantly Investment Group and Beijing
Suyoupeirui Company, now the parent companies of Superior Aviation,
Beijing.
The official news is that Superior has been in negotiations with
suppliers as it ramps back up, and has discovered that some costs
are coming in lower than projected, allowing reduced prices for
specific components including some Millennium cylinder assemblies.
But the news conference quickly moved on to a more general
discussion of Superior, its new structure, and Chinese perceptions
of and plans for general aviation both at home and abroad.
Archer started the session by reading a prepared statement on
behalf of Mr. Cheng, who explained the structure of the enterprises
which are returning Superior to operation, and which plan to revive
US-based production of Brantly helicopters once a manufacturing
location is selected. Archer said that news is expected within the
next three years.
From Cheng's statement, Archer read, "In recent months, all of
our subsidiary companies have made rapid and significant
advancements in their particular product areas." He went on to
detail the first flight of the V750 unmanned helicopter, derived
from the Brantly B2B; completion of Superior's 14,400 square foot,
purpose-built facility in Beijing, which he described as a "mirror
image" of the plant in Texas; and completion of the first training
class of engine assemblers, engine testers and quality assurance
inspectors.
Engine industry veteran Bob Mosely has been retained as
production manager and in March of this year, under his
supervision, the company completed assembly and testing of the
first 360-cubic inch, 180 horsepower aircraft engine built by
Superior Aviation Beijing for the China market. Cheng's statement
concluded with an expression of enthusiasm and support for
Superior, and his new appreciation for the "great opportunities
today and in our future" he's seen at Oshkosh.
Archer noted that popular Superior products are returning to
inventory, with XP engines and kits now being delivered, Vantage
engine kits returning to production soon, and the company is
preparing to meet a brisk demand for its aftermarket cylinders for
Lycoming and Continental engines.
In answers to questions that followed the prepared remarks,
Cheng and an interpreter joined Archer at the podium to address the
changing aviation regulatory environment in China, and noted that
so far, there is no legal way to fly a homebuilt aircraft there.
Archer added that CAAC, the Civil Aviation Administration of China,
may lack a legal outlet for the aspirations of experimental
aircraft enthusiasts at this point, but a wave of demand for
private aviation is growing.
Archer added that, in his view, US manufacturers overstate the
speed at which the transformation of China's aviation market will
happen, "because we see it as our salvation," but that in time, the
change will come.