VisionAire Jets’ dogged pursuit of funding for its Vantage business aircraft has suffered a major blow after an unnamed but committed new investor was forced to withdraw support following their incarceration.
“We seem to get so close and then something happens,” says VisionAire founder and chief executive Jim Rice, who has been a devotee of the Vantage programme since its inception around 25 years ago.
“We’ve been at it a long time and we won’t give up,” he concedes. “This is a unique aircraft. Since its launch nobody has brought anything like it to the market and we are determined to see it through.”
He says attracting investment for the Williams International FJ44-powered single-engined jet has always been a challenge. When the money ran out in 2003, the company was forced into Chapter 7 liquidation. “Nobody was interested in funding an aircraft programme at that time, despite the fact we had a 155-strong orderbook and a proof-of-concept aircraft that had flown more than 500h,” says Rice.
The subsequent owner, Eviation Jets, was also constrained by a funding shortfall and sold the programme five years later to a resurrected VisionAire.
To date around $170 million has been invested in the Vantage, and more than $100 million is still needed to complete development and finally bring the aircraft to market. “We are looking to build a minimum of three production-conforming test aircraft,” says Rice.
VisionAire is being supported for the time being, Rice adds, by a “group of local investors who want to see the programme succeed”.
This capital has enabled engineering work on the Vantage to continue – albeit at a low-key level – at its Newton, North Carolina-headquarters. “We have also outsourced some of the engineering work too,” Rice adds.
The $2.25 million Garmin G3000-equipped Vantage is projected to have a range of 1,500nm (2,780km) and a cruise speed of around 375kt (694km/h).
Source: FlightGlobal.com
