NBAA: Closing Thoughts For Closing Day

That's probably a question with a self-evident answer, but the context is this: The volume of remanufacture and refurb in all segments of aviation continues to expand. At NBAA this week, I was seeing refurb projects at every turn. Two years ago, for instance, Nextant Aerospace was by itself with its successful remanufacture of the Beechjet 400A. Now it has some competition from Elliott Aviation, who's redoing the 400A with new avionics and cosmetics, albeit not with the deep rebuild that Nextant is doing.

Vendors are practically stumbling all over themselves devising products to turn old King Airs into newer King Airs. There are four glass systems to chose from, the latest being the Sandel Avilon, which we reported on earlier this week. Again, Nextant wants to be a market leader here, and with its C90 re-engined with the GE H75, it claims an airplane that's faster, climbs better and has better air conditioning than new models coming out of Wichita, at half the price. If Nextant has any secret sauce here, it may be that its airplanes enjoy a line item in the Aircraft Bluebook and they view these refurbs as new airplanes. That means they carry a warranty and Nextant supports them with AOG and 24-hour service. Customers are the ultimate beneficiaries of all this competition — and not a moment too soon.

This remarkable airplane made its North American debut at NBAA on Tuesday. As we reported in the video on the aircraft, this is a big airplane. From what I could tell from inspecting it for half an hour, it's superbly detailed. Painted a dignified gray, the glass detailing on the airframe was flawless. And for $1.25 million — its typical price — it ought to be. When I first reported on and flew this airplane a couple of years ago in Austria when it was called the DA52, Diamond CEO Christian Dries called it an aerial SUV. With up to seven seats, the moniker probably sticks.

I'm not sure who the customers will be, but I suspect they'll be the same wealthy owners who buy new Barons. You'd think that anyone who can afford an airplane with a point-something in the price tag wouldn't care about fuel economy or the price of gas. But as more than one Cirrus owner has declared, you'd be wrong. Plus, buyers who take the plunge on diesels seem to be having increasingly positive experiences and like the smoothness and dispatch reliability, which has come a long way from the Thielert days.

One of those customers is Embry-Riddle, which announced at the show that it will be buying ten new diesel DA42s for its training fleet in Daytona Beach. Embry-Riddle was an early adopter of diesel twins, soured a bit on them after the Thielert experience, and is now back in the game. I asked Diamond's Peter Maurer what percentage of Diamond's sales are now diesel, figuring it to be 60 percent. But it's higher; about 80 percent, he said.

For companies heavily invested in China, the bloom has fallen off the rose, so to speak. Three years ago, all we heard was China, China, China. Now that has abated. No press conferences translated from the Chinese into English this year. The sugar plums have stopped dancing.

Nonetheless, Alan Klapmeier of One Aviation says he's still enthusiastic about sales in Asia. Recall that One Aviation is a mashup of the new Eclipse Aerospace and the ever-over-the-horizon Kestrel turboprop project. In a wide-ranging press conference earlier this week, Klapmeier said One Aviation's Chinese partner has committed to 20 Eclipse 550s over a rolling multi-year period. "I'm bullish on China. I'm confident of the outcome, I'm just uncertain of the schedule," Klapmeier said.

Even less certain is the long-suffering Kestrel project. Klapmeier admits it's slow and always will be, as a function of financing. While he was discussing progress or lack thereof, he dropped a little brickbat on Honeywell, saying the Kestrel's engine won't be coming from that company. When asked why, he obliquely replied something to the effect that ethics had something to do with it. Meanwhile, Klapmeier was all ears at the GE press conference announcing the new Advanced Turboprop engine.

Whoever suggested country singer Dierks Bentley as a general session speaker extolling the virtues of general aviation aircraft hit pay dirt. Big time. In a hall full of expensive suits and MBAs with assistant MBAs, Bentley ambled up to the podium in denim and leather, or something like that, and for 20 minutes gave a rapt audience a succinct, from-the-heart explanation of how having airplanes available for travel to his concerts has materially improved his family life.

Bentley says he travels 150 days a year — that's more than one in three — and having an airplane available to make it home on the weekends to make pancakes for his kids makes him a happier dad and a happier musician, too. Scattered amidst the NBAA halls are banners picturing the aforementioned suits explaining what great business tools airplanes are. While that's probably true, it's somehow more convincing when placed in the very personal terms that Bentley described in a speech a lot less polished but a bunch more compelling than those we heard from others stepping up to the dais. He got a great cheer when he announced he earned his multi-engine rating last Friday. Now he's trying to engineer 16 days off to complete a jet type rating.

He sold some music, too. The first two I checked out on YouTube had airplanes in them and one had a motorcycle and an airplane. I get it. A tip of the headset to Dierks Bentley. He's clearly the real deal.