Although successful for nearly a century, Revue Thommen AG
has decided to expand its manufacturing of aircraft products to the U.S.
business aviation market as a result of a management buyout accomplished this
past April.
Anticipating the obvious why-mess-with-success question,
Rudolph Iten, director of marketing and vice chairman of the board, said: "The
old shareholder base was not interested in expanding our market. Three major
Swiss banks have supported the buyout and our expansion plans." Six key
managers also contributed their own money to the buyout.
As a sign of its commitment to the U.S. business market,
Revue Thommen will open a business office near Dallas in first quarter 2006.
The former Swiss watch manufacturer also has signed a U.S. Service Center
agreement with Instrument Tech of Addison, Texas, which is ISO 9001 qualified
as of September.
At present, about 20% of Revue Thommen's aftermarket
business is from the U.S., with 50% and 30% coming from Europe and Asia,
respectively. Annual revenues for the company are around $25 million.
Revue Thommen's products include a complete line of
electromechanical altimeters, airspeed indicators and vertical speed
indicators— products that have been discontinued by many American manufacturers.
Revue Thommen also builds electronic instruments and air
data computers for today's digital cockpits.
Revue Thommen's Model 3A43GM 2 standby altimeter has been
chosen by Bombardier for the RVSM kit approved on the Lear 31/35/35A/36/36A/55
models.
The standby altimeter and airspeed indicator Model 5C55, as
well as the cabin altimeter model 3G10, have been chosen as standard equipment
on the recently certified Sino Swearingen SJ30-2. The company's Model AD32E
Electronic RVSM display has been chosen by Corporate Aircraft, Inc. in
partnership with AeroMech, Inc. for the Cessna Conquest II solution.
Additionally, Mid Canada Mod Center has chosen Revue
Thommen's AD32 air data display for its Beech 1900D air data system upgrade solution.
