The VisionAire Vantage - Aerospace Industry beginning a future in Catawba County

James Oscar "Jim" Rice Jr. moved back to Catawba County from St. Louis, Missouri in October of last year. He is the principle founder of VisionAire Jets LLC. The objective of this company is to carry on the program for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification of the Vantage business jet originally developed by VisionAire. Below is the summation of what this airpane is all about and I personally think this is an exciting prospect for our county.

The VisionAire Vantage is a single engine business jet. It is a lightweight airplane, because it is built from composite materials. This jet is able to cruise at speeds of 400 miles per hour and above the weather at 40,000 feet. The jet also only needs 2,500 feet of runway to land. The plane has a spacious cabin that has the capacity to carry a pilot and 5 passengers in a club seating arrangement.

Mr. Rice thoroughly researched the needs of business owners. The intent was to fill the niche between piston/turbo prop aircraft and jet aircraft. During the 1980s, Cessna quit developing and selling single and twin engined piston aircraft that they had been selling to medium sized companies for years. Mr. Rice realized that companies with $10 million to $500 million in sales would not have aircraft available to service their needs in the future. The research showed that there was a certain type of aircraft that these companies would like to step up to.

Mr. Rice next put together a team that was not bound by conventional thinking nor bound by conventional methods of marketing and manufacturing. This made the design of the Vantage revolutionary. Burt Ruttan, of X-Prize and Voyager fame, the owner of Scaled Composites in Mojave, California worked with VisionAire to design the Proof of Concept Prototype to prove that the revolutionary concept of the Vantage was viable.

In 1995, a mock-up of the jet's cabin was unveiled at the National Business Aircraft Association Convention in Las Vegas. In the Fall of 1996, the first Vantage was rolled out at the Scaled Composite facility airport in Mojave, California. On November 16th of that year, the jet took flight for the first time.

The intention of this jet was to expand the market and make it feasible for mid-sized companies to have access to a jet that previously they could not afford.

A concept called the Partner's Program was developed which would allow multiple owners of a Vantage to have access to jet transportation, while sharing the costs. This program would be developed into "Pods." Five aircraft would be placed into secondary markets and 25 business owners would own these aircraft. Visionaire would supply the pilots, scheduling, and maintenance of these aircraft and make sure that a plane was always available when the customer needed it. At the time, this was estimated to be a very profitable part of the venture.

David Okenfuss, a manager with VisionAire, next went over whether it makes sense to start a whole new industry here in Catawba County. VisionAire would be pioneering an effort to bring the aerospace industry to Catawba County. Mr. Okenfuss pointed out that Aerospace is en vogue in North Carolina and fits into the State's overall economic plans. North Carolina has been seeking industries that are progressive, high growth, and high tech to offset the traditional textile and furniture industries.

Their are collaborative efforts involving State officials, Aerospace consortiums, Universities, and local colleges working to put together the necessary resources to meet objectives. On May 21st of this year, the North Carolina Department of Commerce hosted its 3rd annual Aerospace Executive Forum in New Bern. The Governor shared her vision and instituted an Aerospace initiative. She instructed Commerce Secretary Keith Crisco to convene three working groups of Aerospace professionals to make sure that the State has the education, workforce development programs, and industry recruitment partnerships in place to help the state succeed.

Governor Perdue encouraged the State to have the spirit of the Wright Brothers. As most everyone knows, aviation began here in North Carolina. She reminded everyone that the Wright brothers were big dreamers who had the guts and tenacity to go after their goal -- to fly. She encouraged everyone to go after this goal and participate in this initiative with that same spirit.

There are several community colleges in the State that have Aerospace programs, but there is no such initiative or program in Catawba County. There are several of these community college programs that are specifically designed for Aerospace companies. Several Consortiums, such as the National Aerospace Development Center, are all working together and feel that Space Flight and Aviation are essential to growth, prosperity, and the security of this country.

North Carolina State University initiated the North Carolina Aerospace initiative based upon the need for research, workforce development, and further growing awareness of Aerospace within the State. The North Carolina Aerospace Alliance does the same, but with more of a military alliance.

North Carolina already has a diverse aerospace industry. It is home to approximately 350 companies and employs 11,000 workers. The size and scope of these companies range from huge conglomerates to small start-ups. Unison in Asheville makes high tolerance precision jet engine components and Safran (54,000 employees and $12 billion in revenue worldwide) has a division in Monroe that makes jet engine components. Honda Aero is a wholly owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Company and is responsible for Honda Aircraft development. They have a joint partnership with General Electric to develop a turbo fan engine in Greensboro.

Through North Carolina State, a lot of research is being done involving advanced composites. Combined with the labor market, such as in Catawba County, with heavy displacement of industrialized workers, this could be a good fit for such a workforce. Spirit Aerosystems is building the composite fuselage for the Airbus A-350 in Kinston - a 500,000 square foot facility, 304 acres. VX Aerospace in Morganton is taking old corroded and fatigued metal structures and retooling and redesigning them utilizing composites.

Of North Carolina's 23,000 Aerospace workers, 80% work in production and 20% are design/engineering jobs. At this time, the total economic benefit to the State is $11.8 billion. The average worker in the industry makes $70,000 per year compared to the average income of workers in Catawba County of $32,500.

Aircraft have longevity, unlike fashionable industries such as furniture where you have to constantly reinvent yourself. It takes a lot to get an aircraft designed, developed, and certified, but once you do aircrafts can be manufactured under the design for a long time. The Beechcraft Bonanza is the longest running program in American Aviation history. The plane was introduced in 1947 and it is still being produced and it is completely the same.

How would VisionAire benefit Catawba County? Once the program comes online and is ramped up, 400 jobs after 4 years are projected with wages ranging from $15 to $35 per hour. That adds up to $16 million in wages annually. This would be derived from $500 million in sales and economic activity annually.

This would be a worldwide operation and would develop other industries related to the Aerospace offerings of VisionAire. Many of the people associated with such ventures can also lift the culture of our area, because there will be demand for the finer things in life. This can reinvigorate the retail and hospitality industries in this area. People from Asia and Europe do not care for the fare offered at the local corporate cookie cutter restaurants and all you can eat buffets. They want wholesome foods served in clean, warm, attractive, and hospitable environments and they want the creature comforts associated with the finer things in life. The Dynamism in the economy means most everyone's income levels will rise along with extra amenities that increase our local quality of life.

One of the key components that VisionAire wants the area's inhabitants to understand is that the company can take any displaced furniture or textile worker and easily train and adapt them to the manufacturing skills needed to assemble this aircraft. An example is that the same skills and processes used in upholstering are utilized to create composite materials.

VisionAire also wants to possibly utilize some of the manufacturing warehouses that are currently vacant. Their manufacturing process does not have to be located on an airport. Only the wing attachment facility will have to be located at a local airport. The company is looking to offer job specific training for its future employees in cooperation with the local community colleges.

Mr. Rice reviewed some issues involving the aircraft. Although this airplane was designed 15 years ago, there is still no airplane that serves this niche in the market. There is nothing else out there that has been designed to do what this aircraft does. He stated that this is bad in one sense, but it is good for VisionAire and those involved in this process going forward. The objective is to be a profit leader in the business jet aviation market by producing a safe, reliable, low cost, high performance business jet aircraft. This is where the focus is.

Mr. Rice learned about airplanes as the Director of Marketing and Services for Superior Continental Corporation (acquired by Siecor in 1980). These jets are business tools utilized to move people around the country.

Mr. Rice went on to talk about the dynamic and growing market involving this category of aircraft and some of the technological innovations that they are looking to incorporate into the Vantage, that have come about over the past 10 years of downtime the aircraft's development has faced. There will be a different engine installed into the aircraft. It is more advanced, lighter weight, has fewer moving parts, and is as reliable as the previous engine. The evolution of GPS will allow more modern avionics to be incorporated into the design. This advancement will enhance safety through radar and controls to allow the jet to know when other aircraft are in the vicinity. There have also been further advances in the lightweight composite materials that are FAA certified. The VisionAire Vantage is the pioneering aircraft that led to these evolutions in development.

The Vantage was ahead of its time. There are other jets that are similar, but they have positioned themselves as personal jets in the marketplace. The Vantage allows you to step into it, not crawl into the seats. The interior is the largest cabin in its class. The aircraft is the only one in the lightweight class with a lavatory. This airplane also allows single pilot operation. A light jet adds affordability and allows access to smaller airports.

The airplane's payload allows a 1,000 mile range. The typical business trip is 600 to 700 miles, which makes the distance capacity ideal. The plane has a 15 to 1 glide ratio, which allows you to cut the engine at 30,000 feet and glide for 77 miles (37 minutes). Most anywhere in the country you can put it down on a runway. The cost of the Vantage is $2.5 million or less. In comparison a Gulfstream Jet costs between $25 million and $50 million.

The Vantage is a great combination of speed, range, comfort, and affordability. It isn't the fastest, the most comfortable, the cheapest, and it doesn't have the longest range; but the mixture of the four makes it the best package.

As far as the technology, the company does not have to invent one thing in order to build the aircraft. Everything is already available. they only have to integrate existing parts into the aircraft system.

Utilizing numbers from Honeywell and Rolls Royce, the company envisions selling 11,000 aircraft (annually 2010-2020 period) worth revenues of over $200 Billion. They envision selling most of the aircraft in America (over 50%), with some in Europe, and a growing market in Asia (China). Over time, Mr. Rice feels that companies will purchase this plane for mid-level management.

The aircraft is flexible with the ability to fit a stretcher inside utilizing its oval door. The airplane would also be perfect for Military, Coast Guard, and Drug Interdiction management, because the airplane has the ability to loiter at low speeds and also fly at high speeds. there are a lot of uses besides business uses.

Company Engineers will not have to be located in this area. They can be located anywhere. The development work on the plane has been completed. Everyone involved in the original project has agreed to come back on board. This looks to be a three year project. The technology is there. $130 million has already been spent on the project. And it is going to take capital to move the process along. There is a high barrier to entry, but this is achievable. This is a risky proposition, but it is doable.

The Hounds Note: This is the airplane that I was talking about. Mr. Rice is truly a gentleman and Steve Fennell has been a friend of mine since I was 13 years old. Mr. Okenfuss was also a pleasant person to meet and he thoroughly gave some important specifics relating to this jet and the Economic Impact this would have on our area. I think that we should do everything that we can to make this happen. How can you read this and not get excited about the prospects.

Contact Information for Mr. Rice at VisionAire Jets:
jim.rice@visionairejets.com
(877) 334-8504
(704) 325-3286
(704) 325-3945 Fax