Brantly Closed

[JasonTX]

I hate be the bearer of bad news, but the owners have decided to close our local office effective Sept. 10, 2010. There were only 3 of us left at the office when they came and gave us the news. It is unfortunate. They claim they are planning on building a new producition facility in the Dallas area with the help from Superior Engines. My own opinion is that they do not have all the required knowledge with who the suppliers of the various parts and materials are and essentially I think that the Brantly will never be produced again. I had previously been promised a job with them working from my home, but they came back and changed their mind. There are phone numbers on Superiors website for anyone who wishes to contact them regarding Brantly. The point of contact there will be Tim Archer.

Also, Can someone send me the current phone number for Harold Jenkins.

Thanks,
Jason Hickey

[Ron Spiker]

Wow. That is really bad news indeed!! This is the latest number I have for Harold. 405-489-3308 and/or 580-250-0144

[J-nut]

Well nuts!!! I suppose it's what we all feared and hoped would never come. Just one more chapter in the sad sorry saga of Brantly. Maybe they'll make a go of it but I imagine it will be more like Bill Lear's disastrous buy-out of Brantly way back when.

Well, Harold's been through this a few times before and once again we all find ourselves back to relying on him. Truth be told, I don't hold out much hope for the new owners. History proves when you dump the knowledgeable people, it's hard to start over, perhaps even impossible.

Jason, thanks for all the help over the years! You, John and Chris were a great help. Please do stay in touch! You're all we have now. Best of luck!!!

[seneca2e]

Very disappointing news. Thanks for posting it and giving us the scoop. I don't think much will change but having no factory support is definitely a minus. I don't really see why they even wanted to buy Brantly if all they wanted to do was shut it down. Wouldn't it have been grand if the owners could have bought it and continued the mark in the good ole USA like some other owers groups have done with other orphaned machines?

[J-nut]

Hey gang,

Just thought I'd pass along some news. So I called and chatted with Tim Archer today. I was just too curious what was going on at Superior. Tim seems like a good guy. I think he may be relaying a letter through Ron soon so I'll try not to steal his thunder.

Anyway, long story short I feel a bit better about the future of Brantly. Sounds like there was some poor communication between the owners and Brantly employees. I gather the owners had hoped to see at least some of the employees make the move to Dallas. Once I heard about the buy of Superior, it seemed to make sense to move the factory closer to Dallas. Sounds like that really is their intention. Dallas has a much better pool of skilled labor to pull from than Vernon to be sure. After all it is a hotbed of helicopter manufacturing what with Bell and Eurocopter located there.

Anyway, it does sound like the intention is to keep things going here in the states. I'm very gratified to hear that and think this could be a good move for Brantly. Tim tells me they are aware of the shortcomings with the B2-B and there has been talk of trying to find ways to rectify that. Even some talk of resurrecting the 305 as well. Who knows how the economy will play out. That may be a factor in the success of this new venture but I'm somewhat optimistic. For the first time in a looong time there is some serious money behind Brantly and that could be a very good thing for us all.