Stratos Aircraft (booth 3905) this afternoon announced the appointment of a new chief executive as the start-up plans to kick its 714 personal very light jet project into the next gear with a new round of financing, orders and certification schedule.
Alexander Craig, a former vice-president of business development at Williams International and Allied Signal, has returned to the industry after five years to lead Stratos into the next phase of its business plan. Craig takes over from Michael Lemaire, who established the Oregon-based company in 2006 and will remain as chairman.
"The call of aviation is in my blood," says Craig, who has served as chief information officer at Federal Signal since leaving aviation and Williams in 2004. "I'm back."
One of his tasks will be to secure new financing, starting with a $12 million tranche required to develop two flying prototypes and one test article. He says new funding is imminent.
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Stratos, which has brought a mock-up of the 714 to NBAA, plans to use some of the new funds to hire engineering, operational and sales and marketing teams.
Craig believes Stratos can learn from the mistakes of failed VLJ firms such as Eclipse Aerospace and Adam Aircraft while taking advantage of a new Federal Aviation Administration notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that will provide a certification baseline for new VLJs that Craig says earlier projects lacked.
He says he "has rewritten the entire business plan, strategy and execution plan" to take into account the NPRM. Stratos has been planning to certificate the $2 million 714, which is designed to cruise at 400kt (740km/h) for 1,500nm (2,780km) at 41,000ft (12,500m), in 2013. But Craig says the NPRM should allow Stratos to accelerate the program.
Craig also points out the 714 will use already certificated avionics, engines and composite, making the project less risky than preceding VLJs.
Stratos began taking $50,000 deposits in late July at AirVenture 2009 in Oshkosh, where it unveiled a mock-up of the 714. Earlier this month it secured its first two orders and Craig says the firm is now "in hot pursuit" of additional orders.
Source: Flight Daily News
