Ayres has begun efforts to find additional financing and potential partners to complete development of the delayed Loadmaster freighter. At the same time, Ayres-owned Czech manufacturer Let Kunovice has had a bankruptcy petition filed against it by the state-controlled finance house Konsolidacni Banka (KoB).
The company, based in Albany, Georgia, USA, has retained advisors Aero Equity to "write a business plan for the programme and assist in getting additional equity players," says chairman Fred Ayres.
The Loadmaster, for which FedEx has placed 75 firm orders and 275 options, has been hindered by technical delays and financial problems, most recently the KoB petition. The company plans to build much of the Loadmaster at Let and to establish a second assembly line at the Czech manufacturer.
Ayres says the financing is needed to gear up for production of 100 Loadmasters a year, 50 at Let and 50 at Ayres. "We've got money in place to get into certification, but not all the way through," he says. "We may know where to get the rest."
In an interview with Flight International's sister online service Air Transport Intelligence, FedEx vice-president of supplemental air operations Mark Blair says the package carrier is looking for a "sustainable and executable" business plan from Ayres. "For us to continue to support the programme, we need to see a viable business plan and a viable technical plan, and that assumes appropriate capitalisation," he says.
Ayres planned to begin deliveries to FedEx late last year, but now expects to fly the first aircraft by early 2001. Let has delivered the first airframe sections and Ayres says he is awaiting the first engine.
Triumph Group, which is integrating the LHTEC CTS800-4P twin-turbine/powerplant into a "firewall-forward" package for the Loadmaster, has promised delivery by 15December, Ayres says. The Honeywell/Rolls-Royce venture delivered the first flight-test unit to Tempe, Arizona-based Triumph in late June, and LHTEC president Mike Bush says: "The engine has not paced the aircraft."
Ayres hopes to certificate the Loadmaster a year from first flight. "I would still like to deliver to FedEx next December," he says. But Blair says that FedEx does not expect aircraft certification until 18-24 months after first flight. Despite a possible three year delay, FedEx remains "very supportive".
If KoB's second attempt to have Let declared bankrupt over debts of $50 million is successful, Ayres says production of the Loadmaster will move to Poland or Romania.
Source: Flight International
