On the Record with
PAUL SCHWEIZER, PRESIDENT, SCHWEIZER AIRCRAFT

Schweizer 333 Viewed as Commercial Turbine Key

Schweizer Aircraft President Paul Schweizer

There's a new blade in town. It took about six months longer than planned to get the certification.

"Maybe we were a little optimistic," concedes Schweizer Aircraft president Paul Schweizer, but the Elmira, NY-based company weighs into Heli-Expo 2001 with one of the show's only new helicopters, the Schweizer 333.

The 333's new cambered airfoil blade gives the new Schweizer flagship almost 30% more useful load capability than the 330 it effectively replaces. The Schweizer 333 is also 10 to 20 knots faster, depending on conditions.

"We're very excited about our prospects now," Schweizer says of late-September's FAA approval of the 333. With useful load of 1,340 pounds, up from 1,050, the $607,500 aircraft is competitive with the Bell 206 or MD 500, which run about $800K. The 333 is powered by a Rolls-Royce Allison 250-C20W turbine developing 230 shp, continuous. Operating costs are said to be just 70 percent of the 206's. The 333 is claimed to be most cost-effective turbine helicopter in the market.

Half a dozen 333s have already been delivered, one each to a Texas rancher and to a game outfit in Botswana, and a pair apiece to police departments in Houston and San Antonio. The six deliveries represent a good cross-section of target markets for the 333, Schweizer says.

Schweizer Aircraft is the only aerospace company from before World War II that remains family owned. It's enjoyed sales increases of 15% for the past three years and aims to maintain its strong run with $47 million in revenues this year. That'll include 10 of the new 333 turbine helos and 40 piston-powered aircraft, approximately matching last year's tally of 18 Schweizer 300C light utility aircraft and 22 300CB trainers.

Schweizer 333

Schweizer has just implemented a new, regionally oriented distribution system, with 18 U.S. sales centers replacing five distributors. The company claims historical sales in 70 countries, and sees China as a big future winner. "We're working real hard in China," Schweizer says. "We see that market as really opening up for our class of helicopters," particularly the 300C and 300CB piston craft, for which Chinese certification is expected this year. Schweizer's distributor for China is the Oakland, CA-based Sierra Academy.

"We are first and foremost a helicopter company," Schweizer says of his 470-employee firm, despite a perhaps bigger reputation for (long-discontinued) sailplanes and other specialty aircraft. Schweizer makes the SA 2-37A and RU-38B recon aircraft, for which it has a $25 million backlog, as well as the VTUAV unmanned aerial vehicle for Northrop Grumman. The VTUAV uses the same cambered airfoil blade design as the 333, and in fact led directly to the development of that aircraft from the 330.

Aerospace subcontracting, primarily metal-bending, accounts for about 25% of Schweizer's business. Boeing, which buys some 4,000 different parts from Schweizer, is the biggest customer, with 757 wing tips the most visible item. Schweizer supplies the BQM-74 target drone and E-2C parts to Northrop Grumman; Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin are Schweizer customers too.

Transitioning from the R&D to real-world marketing now is the Robocopter 300, an unmanned derivative of the 300C being developed in league with Japan's Kawada Industries, which is providing the control system and which will handle Japanese sales. Japanese coast guard and volcano research agencies are likely customers, Schweizer says.

"Quite frankly, it's a new market," Schweizer concedes. Being able to take risks with new products is one of the advantages of being small and private, he says. "We can do some irrational things and get away with it," he jokes.

Sometimes that can take a while. The 330 was born in 1992, when Schweizer Aircraft went after an Army trainer contract, Schweizer remembers. "In hindsight that was a mistake," he says. "We didn't win the competition and the product wasn't ready for the commercial market."

Now, as the 333, it is. "Schweizer is upbeat," says its boss. "We have very competitive products. We're optimistic that our helicopter business will do well this year, and for us that's the bottom line."

By Rich Piellisch