VisionAire's Success Secret Included Interviewing Past Flops

With over 150 sales for its new, single-engine Vantage light business jet and over $60 million in financing, VisionAire is poised to become one of the few "start-up" business aircraft programs to find success in the past two decades.

Part of the reason is that in the course of two years of extensive market research, VisionAire president Jim Rice made a point to visit and interview key players of several "new" business aircraft projects that hadn't cut the mustard.

"I went to see old, failed aircraft programs" to see what went wrong, Rice said. The interviews included Allen Paulson about the Peregrine (an aircraft formerly called the Hustler), Mona Lear of Lear Fan fame and Tony Fox of Foxjet, he said. Lessons learned from these and other business aircraft flops included the importance of industry knowledge and nailing down solid financial backing, Rice said.

Start-up companies also should not depend on a promised FAA rule change or a manufacturer's proposed new engine. Aircraft design deficiencies that hurt sales or delivery schedules included lack of a lavatory and composite manufacturing and engine gearbox problems, he said.

The current Vantage configuration has been winnowed down from 17 potential designs. Rice "listened and listened" to customer input as he crisscrossed the U.S. with early version models and product development studies, he said. The hiring of qualified, experienced aerospace designers and program managers from across the industry also aided the final selection process, he said.

Rice's desire to build an affordable, high performance, entry level business jet came from years of experience flying various business aircraft and frustration with the escalating prices of the CitationJet and similar products, he said.

With a bulging order book, VisionAire is focusing now on its certification flight test program. First deliveries to customers are scheduled for early 2000. Six aircraft will be used in the flight test program, including two ground test airframes. The company also is tooling up a new, $15-million factory in Ames, IA. It is planning to have a first aircraft "on wheels" in early 1999. The six-place Vantage is priced at $1.8 million. It has a 7,500-pound maximum gross weight, cruise speed of 350 kt and range of 1,000 nmi. It is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney JF-15D engine.

True to form, Rice now is seeking customer input on a proposed two- to six-place "sport" or "recreational jet" tentatively called the Spirit V-12A. As envisioned, it would be powered by a Williams or possibly a new Pratt & Whitney engine. It would be priced at 20% of the cost of a Raytheon A-36 Bonanza while flying twice as fast and three times as high, Rice said.

By Paul Proctor