NBAA: Lots of Refurb Activity

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We get a steady trickle of press releases from the mash-up of companies that now comprise Textron Aviation-Cessna, Beechcraft and Hawker. The other day, we noticed something: the press releases are coming through not with the Textron Aviation moniker but the badges of the individual companies.

At the static display on Monday, I noticed the big fancy gate leading into the echelon of airplanes also has no Textron Aviation signage, just the individual company logos. If Textron has given up on trying to brand Textron for aviation they’re doing so quietly. And wisely. Those unique brands are sturdier and more recognizable than Textron will ever be, no matter much clever print and web ad money is thrown around trying to change customer perceptions. Branding under Textron just muddies the understanding of what the company is. I noticed in news stories, when we were writing Textron Aviation, it felt like pounding a square peg into a round hole. It was never gonna fit. I’m glad they made the change…if indeed, that’s the intent.

Honda and its Engine

For most of the last decade, Honda has had major presence not just at NBAA, but other GA shows as well. This year, it looks like they’ve gone all out. They have an enormous glitzy booth in the main hall and another major position at the static display, despite not having delivered an airplane yet.

In a show that doesn’t promise much news, there was one nugget on Monday. GE Honda, the consortium that developed and is building the HondaJet’s engine, announced it’s working on an STC to put these new, state-of-the-art engines into older Citations, replacing the old Pratt JT15D. Sierra Industries of Uvalde, Texas, is developing the STC. We don’t have specific numbers on the install yet. the HF120 engine is in the same general thrust class as the JT15D, but it’s considerably more fuel efficient, according to GE Honda.

Older Citations are all over the used market for bargain prices, but by modern standards, they’re thirsty for fuel and many of them have avionics museums for panels. GE Honda and Sierra are betting that an engine upgrade will give those airplanes new market vitality, reducing operating costs and possibly extending range. We’ll have to see how the numbers crunch, but the concept makes sense on paper. Someone might make a nice business out of refurbing the disco-era jets. They’re still prized for being single-pilot approved and capable of carrying respectable load.

Garmin G5000

And part of that refurb industry will be driven by Garmin, which, at NBAA was showing the new retrofit of the G5000 for the Beechjet 500 series. See a video on the site of this project this morning. The G5000 is top-of-the-line glass for Part 25 aircraft and at maybe $450,000 installed, it’s both a piece of change and major surgery to the 400. On the other hand, 400 and 400As are a good buy on the used market. In the video, I guesstimated they’re selling for just under $2 million, but asking prices can be a lot less than that. Even if the 5000 install approaches half the value of the airplane, an owner would have a modern, capable jet for as little as $1.5 million. That’s compelling against small jets starting at $2 million or more. Beechjet 400 owners appear to be like Bonanza owners; they could afford newer but love these airplanes, thus the appeal of the upgrade. There’s competition in this marketspace, too. Not for nothing did Nextant pick the 400A for its hot selling 400 XTi re-engineeer/remanufacture program. This may be fertile ground for GE Honda’s aforementioned HF120, too. There are quite a few 400 airframes out there and boosting their range by 50 percent makes them competitive with anything out there on the new market.

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