The president of privately owned French general-aviation manufacturer Avions Robin, Jean-Paul Pelissier, has pulled out of the contest to buy bankrupt Avions Mudry.
His decision to withdraw leaves the Ìeld open to Dyn'Aero, the only other contender for the Bernay, northern France-based builder of aerobatic aircraft.
Pelissier says that Mudry "-will bring nothing to our group", and adds that he will pursue manufacture of the Akrotech Europe G222 two-seat aerobatic aircraft under licence from Oregon-based Akrotech. The Ìrst example of the all-composite machine is already in Robin's Dijon factory, and is expected to fly soon.
Dyn'Aero is owned by the son of Robin founder Christophe Robin, and plans to bring its CR100 monoplane to the Mudry range, which includes the CAP 10B two-seat aerobatic and club aircraft and the CAP 123 EX and CAP 232, both single- seat competition aerobatic aircraft. The bid would be aligned with entrepreneur Christian Castang, who would become president of Mudry, and who has promised to retain the company's founder, Auguste Mudry, as honorary president of the operation.
Avions Mudry, which has been valued at Fr27 million ($4.9 million), ran up debts of Fr15 million following a fire at its factory in 1996, leaving it under the jurisdiction of the commercial court at Bernay. A decision on its future is due at the end of April.
Source: Flight International