Wed, Jul 14, 2004
Company Restructures, Makes Plans For Oshkosh
A lot of GA industry insiders were dismayed when OMF GmBH threw
in the financial towel last year, laying off its workers and shutting down
production of the fledgling Symphony-160. Now, the
company says it's back in both Germany and Canada, with plans to
strut its stuff at AirVenture 2004 later this month.
Paul Costanzo, president and CEO of Symphony Aircraft
Industries, told ANN in a conference call Tuesday that OMF
Flugslugwerke of Germany had purchased the assets of the bankrupt
OMF GmBH, bringing aboard at least three members of the original
management team.
"A lot of things have now come together," he said from his
company headquarters in Three Rivers, Quebec. His new company,
Symphony Aircraft Industries, will accept transfer of the 160
manufacturing type design by the end of this week.
"I always thought I could put it back together," he said. "It's
just too good a product. But some days, I really wondered what I
was doing," given the amount of red tape he had to negotiate in
resurrecting the company.
There are now 41 Symphony 160s flying -- 39 of them in the hands
of customers. Thirty-one of them are based in the US.
Costanzo said the new company's initial focus will be on
manufacturing and selling the 160. But he said German aviation
officials would issue an STC for a diesel engine, the Symphony
135D, by the end of the year. He expects US and Canadian
certification shortly after that. The company is also working on
its first four-place offering, the Symphony 250 and expects to fly
it in a little over a year, with production to follow in the fall
of 2006.
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