On the Record with

HENK SCHAEKEN, CEO, MD HELICOPTERS, INC.

Dutch Company Revives MD Helicopters

Uncertainty plaguing the future of Boeing-McDonnell Douglas commercial helicopters has been removed with the final acquisition on Friday of the full product range by the Dutch RDM Group. The company managed to squeeze into Heli-Expo at the last minute to explain that it has not only money to invest in the future, but also a clear idea of the market potential for its acquisition.
"Our immediate goal is to deliver quality products in real good time," Henk Schaeken, CEO of the new MD Helicopters, told Show News. "A primary focus will be to create excellent support for those flying and buying the helicopters, through expanding our service center network and making a big effort to get the distributor network back on line."

Schaeken has many balls to juggle at once. While building an international support infrastructure and convincing potential customers they will not be left with orphan helicopters, he must also move production into a new plant near Phoenix, AZ, within a year, which is the deadline set by Boeing as a condition of the sale, which involved assets worth $150 million. Actual sale price was not disclosed.

Then Schaeken has to ramp up production to meet the demand he hopes the sales effort will stimulate-and sustain. Some 36 helicopters were produced in 1998, and plans call for 50 this year.

Along the way, he also plans to buy Heli-Fly of Belgium, the European customer support and service center for McDonnell Douglas products in Europe, to bring the customer one step closer. Not coincidentally, Heli-Fly had been negotiating with Boeing to buy just the Explorer product line, only to call in RDM Group when it found it was unable to close on the deal.

"Yes, we are quite busy," allowed Schaeken.

RDM quickly realized that although the Explorer has strong sales potential, especially in Europe, it would be unwise to form a one-product company. So it bid for the MD 500 and MD 600 helicopter lines too. "There are over 2,000 MD500s in the world, giving a substantial product base. We decided it would be smart to have that from day one," he explained.

While building a new company, RDM need not focus on developing the products themselves. "They are excellent products. The designs are new, and they have great potential," Schaeken said. "They may need a little work here and there, but nothing urgent."

Pricing, thoughespecially of the Explorerhas to be addressed. "It was highly priced at the end. We will see what we can do to make it more competitive," Schaeken said. "The organization was maybe not tuned to this kind of market."

MD Helicopters aims to utilize the expertise of its parent, RDM Group, in expanding military sales around the world. RDM already produces defense and aerospace products, and is a subcontractor to Boeing for landing gear and fuselage assemblies for the Apache attack helicopter. The Explorer is currently being tested by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Border Patrol has a number of options on the MD 600N that Schaeken hopes will now be converted into firm orders.

"It has been very difficult for the sales people while the future of the helicopter company was uncertain," Schaeken said, "That should change as we make it quite clear to the market that we are here to stay, that we are here for the long haul."
The first fruits might already be emerging. "There have already been some MD 500 sales a week ago," Schaeken said.

By John Morris