A multi-engine, instrument rated pilot, James Wynbrandt has been an AIN and Business Jet Traveler contributor since 2003. His in-depth reporting and insightful features have won more than a dozen editorial honors, including two National Business Aviation Association Gold Wing Awards (2019; 2021), and his articles have also appeared in the New York Times, Barron’s, Fortune, Forbes, and Smithsonian Air &amp; Space. He has flown his Mooney M20K 252 on assignments throughout North and Central America and the Caribbean. Wynbrandt is also the author of Flying High (Wiley &amp; Sons), a biography of Jet Blue founder David Neeleman, as well as histories, references works, and books on a variety of other topics from major publishers. He lives in New York City.

Contributor - Business Aviation

James Wynbrandt

You can’t get more high-touch than carpeting and leather in the business aircraft cabin interiors arena, and there’s no better place to see the world’s greatest collection of these luxurious materials and learn about their selection and care than NBAA-BACE. Eager to reconnect after the prolonged lockdown, exhibitors this year are featuring new collections, new styles, and a renewed sense of optimism as business aviation roars back to life. Following are some of the carpeting and leather exhibitors and products making news this week at NBAA-BACE 2021.[inline-image="213078"]
Along with products showcasing each of its brands, Scott Group Custom Carpets (Booth 1459) is introducing two collections this week in Las Vegas. Stripe, the newest member of Scott’s Q6 collections line, is a “sophisticated two-level neutral tone loop design” that can be made to order in just six weeks, said Jennifer Kirchgessner, director of design and product development. The “highly versatile” Q6 line carpets are used by both OEM and aftermarket customers, she said.
The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based carpet maker is also debuting a collection of hand-tufted designs inspired by classic geometrics, created in warm wood tones and deep mineral-toned accents.
Scott team members can explain product options that meet customers’ complete range of design, lead time, and price point needs, from carpeting “available as quickly as in two weeks, all the way to our fully customizable, hand-tufted bespoke designs,” Kirchgessner said.
For carpets that combine bespoke luxury and durability, “We recommend a dense loop pile product,” the interiors professional said. Other elements to keep in mind in carpet design: “Think about the blending of colors, and hues and tones that complement the interior, while also hiding dirt and soiling.”
Regular vacuuming and maintenance are also important for extending the life of your carpet, she advised. “Our carpets are typically replaced, not because they are worn, but because the owner is updating the aircraft and wants to refresh the look of the interior.”
Today, sustainability is influencing carpet designers’ material choices&nbsp;and their designs, colors, and patterns.&nbsp;Scott has been working “with warmer neutrals lately that are influenced by wood tones,” Kirchgessner added. “Colors from nature like mineral greens&nbsp;and clay reds used as accents continue to be popular. We like to use and blend color in a way that is subtle, but adds dimension to the carpet.” 
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<div style="margin-bottom:5px;"><img alt="Townsend Leather" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="73e9c6e3-4efc-4047-9717-10d3cfce31dc" src="/sites/default/files/townsend-leather_milano-collection-1.jpg" width="2100" height="1050" loading="lazy"></div>
<figcaption style="font-size:1.5rem;line-height:1.2;font-style:italic;">Townsend Leather</figcaption>
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“Leather is a product that is best appreciated by touching, feeling, and even smelling to show its beauty,” said Alison Martin at Townsend Leather, a third-generation family manufacturer of upholstery hides and decorative leathers used in premium aircraft interiors. “We have missed the one-on-one conversations we get to have with many industry partners at trade shows, so we are extremely excited to be exhibiting in person and see our long-time industry friends and partners, and be part of the NBAA-BACE show once again.”
Townsend (Booth 1325) kept busy during the pandemic, said Martin, the company’s sales and marketing director, “increasing our capacity with the purchase of new machinery, and developing new products and ways to create beautiful leather.” The results are on display here in Las Vegas.&nbsp;
Townsend’s newest collection, Stingray Serenade (a product also known as shagreen), is inspired by marine life and offered in an updated palette of seven colors ranging from neutrals to red, green, and a smoky blue. The unique small-scaled pattern can be used anywhere from headboards and barstools to headrests and armrests, and finished in a matte, tone-on-tone tipping, or a metallic tipping for added glimmer and shine.
Samples showcasing Townsend’s newest capability, digital printed leather, are also debuting. Using new high-precision machinery, the Johnstown, New York-based manufacturer can create standard and unique ornamental pattern inserts through a combination of technical stitching and pattern recognition. Some two dozen standard patterns from Townsend’s quilting program incorporating digitally printed leather are on display.
Some of the full hides shown at the Townsend booth also sport digitally printed designs, “to show the beautiful embossings without noticeable matchlines, quilted panel designs, and more,” said Martin.
New leathers from the Stacy Garcia for Townsend Leather collection are also on display, shown in five&nbsp;designs, with customization available.
Martin noted that Townsend sources all its raw material from Europe, which produces what many consider the largest, cleanest hides in the world, in part due to agricultural regulations that serve to improve the quality of farm products. The company also completes all dyeing, embossing, hand-applied applications, and final color techniques at its factory, ensuring consistent, superior quality. 
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<figcaption style="font-size:1.5rem;line-height:1.2;font-style:italic;">Tai Ping</figcaption>
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For Hong Kong’s Tai Ping (Booth 2565), NBAA-BACE’s return is “a joyful reunion, we collaborate with our customers so much,” said Susie Parker, the bespoke carpet maker’s senior aviation sales representative.&nbsp;“Technology has allowed us to continue the design process from afar” during the pandemic, she said, “but we have missed the visits and face-to-face interactions.”&nbsp;&nbsp;
During the lockdowns, “Our aviation business actually did not see much of a slowdown, and once the mandates were lifted and the vaccine&nbsp;distributed, it's been nonstop for all of our teams,” Parker said.&nbsp;
As per its NBAA tradition, Tai Ping is debuting new designs at its display. “Product development is the&nbsp;lifeline to our customers,” said Parker.&nbsp;Moreover, the company has “reinvented” its display this year to feature one of the debuting designs—the Atelier by Fang Collection, a new collaboration with global fashion designer&nbsp;Fang Yang. “It’s couture fashion translated into couture carpeting,” said Parker.
The Raw Collection, Taxonomy Edition is also featured. The fashion-forward carpeting collections are complemented at Tai Ping’s display by smaller, more focused capsules that highlight its offerings for the completions and refurbishment markets.&nbsp;
Tai Ping offers more than 80 different materials, including wool, silk, cashmere, flax, and cotton. Its standard pom box, or library of in-stock yarns, contains 560 color choices, and the company produces more than 2,000 unique colors annually. Trend-wise, “We are seeing lighter tones specified&nbsp;including&nbsp;white, bone, sand, and almond.&nbsp;And greys seem to be a lasting trend,” Parker said. “Jewel tones are having a moment, with&nbsp;reds, greens, and blues or sultry dark browns and blacks” the predominant color choices.&nbsp;
Long focused on sustainability of its materials and processes, Tai Ping operates from a Green Label Plus-certified factory incorporating wastewater management, energy efficiency, and emissions-reduction technology, supporting its advanced dyeing, manufacturing, and hand-tufting operations.&nbsp;Technological improvements notwithstanding, “A team will always have their hands on the product, fine-tuning, shearing, sculpting, carving, and looking over every square inch to ensure the quality achieved is to our customer's expectations,” Parker said.&nbsp;
But fine leather and carpet couldn’t find their way onto business aircraft without expert trimming and sewing, which leads many top-tier providers to NC Carpet and Upholstery Sewing Machines (Booth 3645). The North Carolina-based company is showcasing an all-new product line, including “a monster addition” to its upholstery sewing machine line that’s “perfect for aircraft interiors,” CEO Mal Maher said in the lead up to the exhibition.
NC Carpet offers sewing machines for every application, including “all styles to accommodate sewing deep into material, for twin-needle sewing jobs, and post-bed sewing machines for difficult sewing applications, where maneuvering is paramount,” said Maher. Ancillary products—including carpet yarn, tapes, and cutting and shearing tools “to streamline any sewing workroom”—are also being shown.
Added Maher, “We service what we sell, we stock parts and supplies, and ship same day.” The company has also launched a new industry podcast, featuring guest aircraft interiors experts, called “NC Shop Talk,” Maher said.
This will mark NC Carpet’s 20th straight year exhibiting at NBAA. “We know this year’s show is going to be a home run,” said Maher. “Our family has been serving the aviation interiors community since the 1950s, from the OEMs all the way down to mom and pop upholstery shops.” And at this year’s edition, “We have roughly 40 to 50 exhibitors who are also clients, including Duncan Aviation and Honda Aircraft,” said Maher. “Seeing them annually in a true family environment, along with new clients, is tremendous.”
Meanwhile, Carson, California-based Lonseal Flooring (2764) offers vinyl flooring material available in a wide range of designs for aircraft interiors, often featured in high traffic and spill-prone areas including cabin entryways, galleys, and lavatories.
“We don’t have anything new to add into our current aircraft collection, since Covid&nbsp;pretty much shut our factories down,” said compangt marketing manager Lace Greene-Cordts, but the&nbsp;products still set the pace for reasons the company highlights: they are aesthetically pleasing; easy to clean and install; low to no VOC emissions; slip- and water-resistant; and durable. Additionally—and critically for today’s market—Lonseal offers proprietary GreenMedic antimicrobial vinyl flooring, and the material is already incorporated in the construction of most of Lonseal’s aircraft sheet-vinyl floor products.
Floors with antimicrobial agents in their formulation are much better protected and defend against a broader range of organisms than flooring treated with a top-layer antibacterial agent alone, according to Lonseal.

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