The plan announced last year by The Aviation Alliance to remanufacture Cessna 421Cs and Gulfstream IIIs is moving forward, according to company founder and managing director Geoff Miller, despite setbacks that have caused some delays. The California-based company is currently focusing on the Excalibur 421 turboprop conversion and hopes to have one completed in time for this year’s NBAA show in Orlando in October. The GIII FanStream re-engining program, meanwhile, will be next in line and will likely require an engine different from the one originally targeted.
The Excalibur 421 program was announced early last year, and the Alliance was designed to act as general contractor for the program, pulling together companies and people with the required skills to design, build and market the converted airplanes. These included Jack Pelton, former chairman, president and CEO of Cessna; Colin Judge, former v-p of The Jet Center of Van Nuys, Calif.; Maj. Gen. Doug Pearson, former commanding general of Edwards Air Force Base and v-p director of flight-test for the Lockheed Martin F-35 program; Tom Nixon, who was chief engineer of Sensor Systems, American Aviation Industries and Volpar; Corey Schlossmann, former senior tax partner at Price Waterhouse and partner at Gordon, Fishburn & Schlossmann; Ventura Aerospace, which was going to be responsible for engineering, flight-test and certification; Capital Aviation (interiors and paint); Oklahoma Jet Support Center (engine and systems installations); and Clay Lacy Aviation (sales and marketing).
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