On the otherwise sleepy ramp at the Sussex County airport in rural Georgetown, Delaware, a metamorphosis of the VIP variety is in full overdrive.
Here in the innards of the four large hangars, back shops and offices, the 600 technicians and engineers of Pats Aircraft are working 2.5 shifts a day plus overtime designing and installing custom interiors and auxiliary fuel systems in Bombardier CRJ200 corporate jet conversions and other airliners-turned-business-jets for a rapidly expanding clientele list in a booming corporate market.
To keep pace with demand, Pats, a subsidiary of Ohio-based DeCrane Aerospace Systems, is in the process of building more hangars and rapidly ramping up its in-house completions pace from the current average of three Boeing Business Jets a year to as many as 10 BBJs, Bombardier CRJ Executives and Embraer Lineage 1000s by next year, and to more than a dozen in 2009, says Mark Anderson, director of sales. The Lineage 1000 is a VIP version of the Embraer 190, the first of which is due to arrive at Pats shortly for its interior completion.
Pats has been installing interiors and auxiliary fuel tanks in BBJs since 2000 and has completed nine aircraft to date. Three BBJs are now on site for completions and in one case, for an auxiliary fuel system only. A BBJ typically holds 11,370 litres (3,000USgal) of additional fuel in six Pats-made composite tanks installed on rails in the belly of the aircraft. A BBJ completion typically takes between nine and 12 months, says Anderson. Pats also installs winglets on BBJs for Boeing and provides auxiliary fuel tanks for Boeing 757s and 767s and well as Bombardier's new Challenger 850.
Highlighting the growing backlog of new work in an expanded portfolio at the company are five CRJ200s awaiting completions, three of which sit nose to tail on the tarmac outside. The aircraft, owned by Redmond, Washington-based Tailwind Capital, were previously in service with Delta Air Lines regional subsidiary, Comair, and Independence Air.
Four of the five CRJs were built in 2003 and have fewer then 8,000 cycles each on the airframe, says Anderson. The fifth was built in 1999. The $19.9 million VIP version of the aircraft, dubbed the CRJ200 Executive Jet at the request of Bombardier, will offer three standard interior options seating between 14 and 16 passengers. Two Pats-made 1,140 litre auxiliary fuel tanks mounted in the aft section of the cabin will provide an additional 740-1,100km (400-600nm) range, giving the aircraft a 5,360-5,750km range. Tailwinds expected to sign its first customer for the jet this month.
Pats is also bidding on a separate CRJ200 project that would involve converting 20 CRJ200s over a five-year period into what Canadian aviation management firm Aerospace Concepts is calling "Phoenix Business Jets", with interiors similar to the CRJ200 Executive Jet. On average, Anderson says he gets one call a week from someone interested in having a CRJ converted to a corporate jet.
Arriving soon at Pats is the first Embraer Lineage 1000 for interior completion. The contract calls for 35 Lineage interiors over a 10-year period, increasing throughput from four aircraft a year initially to eight a year by 2010. The contract also calls for Pats to reduce completions turn time to five to six months by the fourth aircraft, a requirement that has driven the company to offer modular designs with up-front engineering, and to accelerate expansion of its workforce and workspace. "We started the dialogue with Embraer in July 2006 and we signed the contract last October," says Anderson. "We've been racing ever since."
Source: Flight International
