Just Returned from the Factory
Posted: Sun Jul 16, 2006 10:34 am
I returned from Vernon,Texas on Wednesday 07/12/2006. and the one thing you can say about that part of Texas this time of year, is HOT, 104 degrees HOT.
My tour of the Brantly plant was much better than the weather. Everyone was very informative and really tried to answer all my questions.
Doyel Patrick acted as my tour guide. He took me through-out the Plant, a very large hanger at the local airport.
Inside the building you'll find a large open floor area containing an idle assembly line. All the machines, and jigs, are there in place, and fully operational ready to produce B2B's. There are 3 ships in various stages from bare frame, to approx. 75% equipped just waiting for the workers and the orders to fire the line up again.
The fully staffed company had about 80 employees at full production, currently there are 11, mainly trying to fill the needs of the existing customers. If my math and serial numbers are correct they have produced approx. 10 B2B's in six years. Number 10 is the ship at the end of the assembly line. Mr. Patrick advised me that this one could be completed in 90 days, pending FAA approval.
Another interesting ship on the floor was a Brantly 305. This was the 5 place unit with a wheeled landing gear, that had it been in production at the time the R44 came about, I think it could have given it a run for it's money, if a problem with the rotor blades had been resolved. But that seems to be the Brantly's story. alot of missed steps, bad timing, and bad luck.
When the tour was through I was introduced to the company president and CEO, Mr. Henry W. Yao, Mr. Yao and I had a long conversation and discovered not only were we late in becomming helicopter pilots, me at 54 and he at 72, we also both enjoyed motorcycle touring. I have found that alot of rotorwing pilots share similar interest. Unlike me, Mr. Yao is a graduate of Harvard, and I'm sure it takes all of his talents to maintain the balance that keeps the doors open. I'll discuss more on that a little later.
We then set up a time for first thing Tuesday morning for a demo flight, because I wasn't just interested in learning about the current status of Brantly, I wanted to buy one.
08:00 on Tuesday morning was perfect flying weather. The night before had produced a thunderstorm with lots of rain, the first in weeks, and the temp. was around 70 degrees. My pilot was Mr. Cy Russum who even though he had left the company awhile back, drove 50 miles to show me what the Brantly was capable of. I was not disappointed. All of my training had been in 300CB's and 300CBI's. With the exception of the rotor brake, the startup was almost identical to the CBI. Cy picked the craft up into a hover, then took it over to a flat grassy area next to the landing pads. After setting down he turned the controls over to me and I went through some pick-up's and set down's, hovering manuvers, then we took off to fly a long pattern around the airport.
Again I can report that the handeling of the Brantly is almost identical to the 300 series, except the Brantly is smoother through-out the flight, there really is no translational lift shutter, and the delay in input control is longer in the Brantly. I contribute these conditions to the main rotor design.
The ship handled well in flight and after awhile I brought it in to land back at the grassy area, again everything was very predictable, smooth, and no
susprises.
Back on the ground I met again with Mr.Yao, I told him I would be interested in purchasing the helicopter we just flew in. Over lunch with Mr. Patrick and later that afternoon by phone we just couldn't agree on the value of the aircraft. You can't go by the price of recent sales, because most of those are over 40 years old. The ship we flew in even though it had less than 90 hours on it was built in 2000 and the engine was manufactured in the 90's. While I won't discuss the exact offer I made I will tell you it was in excess of $ 100,000.00. Even though we couldn't come to terms on that one, I asked that they give me a call when the new ship is completed, if it is still available and I haven't purchased something else I would be interested in it.
Back to the balancing act that Mr.Yao, is struggling with. As most everyone knows by know Brantly is financed by a large privately held company in China, who appear to only want to invest the minimun amout of money to maintain the company. While this is better than closing the door, it does not allow for promotion, R&D, or production of completed units on any scale, or replacement parts. For those employees in Texas this has to be a frustrating situation.
I can tell you that the staff that remains at Brantly are doing all they can do to find the parts to support the existing customer base and keep the B2B flying.
So the question has to come up, if the company brought everyone back to work, started the line back up, advertised and promoted the B2B, would they have a viable product, well I think that is a very strong maybe.
As the existing parts supply dries-up they are finding that newly manufactured parts, that are outsourced are costing more than their advertised retail cost. The best example of this is part # 280-7 the Pylon short Shaft, which sold from old inventory for $85.35, [ the last 3 new ones are installed on the ship awaiting finial assembly], last quoted from a new supplier at over $300.00 each, with a 500 unit order required. Not only will this type of increase add greatly to the overall cost of the ship, if this part is not available, that new B2B currently at the end of the line and everyone else, will have to park theirs at 1200 hrs.
If new production were to take place on a large scale, the B2B would have to go head to head with the Schweizer 300 series, and the Robinson R-22. I think it could be successful if the cost could be kept below the R-22
and if a turbo charged engine could be developed like the Enstrom to produce over 200 horsepower.
To determine this a detailed cost analysis would have to be done, again costing alot of money. The company in China has the funds so what are they waiting for. Well it appears they are waiting for the civil aviation market to open up in their home land. Could you imagine the market for the worlds largest population with limited infastructure, a market made for helicopters. But this is China, the worlds largets remaining communist country and all the political problems that go with it. Open civil aviation may never happen. Meanwhile the Brantly waits in limbo.
So should anyone buy a B2B, thats for you to decided. I can tell you that the remaining people at the plant will do all with in their power to keep the company going and the parts flowing.
I'll send my photo's to the web admin. Steve Chenoweth for review and posting.
My tour of the Brantly plant was much better than the weather. Everyone was very informative and really tried to answer all my questions.
Doyel Patrick acted as my tour guide. He took me through-out the Plant, a very large hanger at the local airport.
Inside the building you'll find a large open floor area containing an idle assembly line. All the machines, and jigs, are there in place, and fully operational ready to produce B2B's. There are 3 ships in various stages from bare frame, to approx. 75% equipped just waiting for the workers and the orders to fire the line up again.
The fully staffed company had about 80 employees at full production, currently there are 11, mainly trying to fill the needs of the existing customers. If my math and serial numbers are correct they have produced approx. 10 B2B's in six years. Number 10 is the ship at the end of the assembly line. Mr. Patrick advised me that this one could be completed in 90 days, pending FAA approval.
Another interesting ship on the floor was a Brantly 305. This was the 5 place unit with a wheeled landing gear, that had it been in production at the time the R44 came about, I think it could have given it a run for it's money, if a problem with the rotor blades had been resolved. But that seems to be the Brantly's story. alot of missed steps, bad timing, and bad luck.
When the tour was through I was introduced to the company president and CEO, Mr. Henry W. Yao, Mr. Yao and I had a long conversation and discovered not only were we late in becomming helicopter pilots, me at 54 and he at 72, we also both enjoyed motorcycle touring. I have found that alot of rotorwing pilots share similar interest. Unlike me, Mr. Yao is a graduate of Harvard, and I'm sure it takes all of his talents to maintain the balance that keeps the doors open. I'll discuss more on that a little later.
We then set up a time for first thing Tuesday morning for a demo flight, because I wasn't just interested in learning about the current status of Brantly, I wanted to buy one.
08:00 on Tuesday morning was perfect flying weather. The night before had produced a thunderstorm with lots of rain, the first in weeks, and the temp. was around 70 degrees. My pilot was Mr. Cy Russum who even though he had left the company awhile back, drove 50 miles to show me what the Brantly was capable of. I was not disappointed. All of my training had been in 300CB's and 300CBI's. With the exception of the rotor brake, the startup was almost identical to the CBI. Cy picked the craft up into a hover, then took it over to a flat grassy area next to the landing pads. After setting down he turned the controls over to me and I went through some pick-up's and set down's, hovering manuvers, then we took off to fly a long pattern around the airport.
Again I can report that the handeling of the Brantly is almost identical to the 300 series, except the Brantly is smoother through-out the flight, there really is no translational lift shutter, and the delay in input control is longer in the Brantly. I contribute these conditions to the main rotor design.
The ship handled well in flight and after awhile I brought it in to land back at the grassy area, again everything was very predictable, smooth, and no
susprises.
Back on the ground I met again with Mr.Yao, I told him I would be interested in purchasing the helicopter we just flew in. Over lunch with Mr. Patrick and later that afternoon by phone we just couldn't agree on the value of the aircraft. You can't go by the price of recent sales, because most of those are over 40 years old. The ship we flew in even though it had less than 90 hours on it was built in 2000 and the engine was manufactured in the 90's. While I won't discuss the exact offer I made I will tell you it was in excess of $ 100,000.00. Even though we couldn't come to terms on that one, I asked that they give me a call when the new ship is completed, if it is still available and I haven't purchased something else I would be interested in it.
Back to the balancing act that Mr.Yao, is struggling with. As most everyone knows by know Brantly is financed by a large privately held company in China, who appear to only want to invest the minimun amout of money to maintain the company. While this is better than closing the door, it does not allow for promotion, R&D, or production of completed units on any scale, or replacement parts. For those employees in Texas this has to be a frustrating situation.
I can tell you that the staff that remains at Brantly are doing all they can do to find the parts to support the existing customer base and keep the B2B flying.
So the question has to come up, if the company brought everyone back to work, started the line back up, advertised and promoted the B2B, would they have a viable product, well I think that is a very strong maybe.
As the existing parts supply dries-up they are finding that newly manufactured parts, that are outsourced are costing more than their advertised retail cost. The best example of this is part # 280-7 the Pylon short Shaft, which sold from old inventory for $85.35, [ the last 3 new ones are installed on the ship awaiting finial assembly], last quoted from a new supplier at over $300.00 each, with a 500 unit order required. Not only will this type of increase add greatly to the overall cost of the ship, if this part is not available, that new B2B currently at the end of the line and everyone else, will have to park theirs at 1200 hrs.
If new production were to take place on a large scale, the B2B would have to go head to head with the Schweizer 300 series, and the Robinson R-22. I think it could be successful if the cost could be kept below the R-22
and if a turbo charged engine could be developed like the Enstrom to produce over 200 horsepower.
To determine this a detailed cost analysis would have to be done, again costing alot of money. The company in China has the funds so what are they waiting for. Well it appears they are waiting for the civil aviation market to open up in their home land. Could you imagine the market for the worlds largest population with limited infastructure, a market made for helicopters. But this is China, the worlds largets remaining communist country and all the political problems that go with it. Open civil aviation may never happen. Meanwhile the Brantly waits in limbo.
So should anyone buy a B2B, thats for you to decided. I can tell you that the remaining people at the plant will do all with in their power to keep the company going and the parts flowing.
I'll send my photo's to the web admin. Steve Chenoweth for review and posting.