Flight International — 22 August — 4 September 2017

(C. Jardin) #1
fiightglobal.com 22 August-4 September 2017 | Flight International | 13

Low interest puts
BAE conversions
back on the shelf
Air Transport P

R


ockwell Collins highlighted
its satellite-based navigation
solutions in Brazil during
LABACE, as private aircraft own-
ers in Latin America begin to
reckon with a wave of pending
regulatory mandates.
The US government’s 2020
deadline for compliance with the
automatic dependent surveil-
lance-broadcast (ADS-B) mandate
is the primary issue for Brazilian
owners of large business jets, says
Benjamin Gambrell, senior mar-
keting manager for Collins’ com-
mercial systems division in Cana-
da and Latin America.
For Brazil’s largest business
jets and even some turboprops
based in the northeast, access to

controlled airspace in the USA is
a requirement, so the ADS-B up-
grade is a near-term necessity,
Gambrell says. Many owners are
waiting for scheduled mainte-
nance checks in 2018 and 2019 to
install the required equipment,
which includes a new transpond-
er, he says.
Brazil, which boasts Latin
America’s second-largest private
fleet, has required ADS-B equip-
ment since 2015 for all helicop-
ters flying to offshore oil drilling
platforms in the Campos Basin.
Private owners expect the gov-
ernment to consider applying the
mandate more widely to Brazil’s
terrestrial airspace in the near fu-
ture, Gambrell says.

Other Latin American govern-
ments have already moved to es-
tablish ADS-B mandates. Both
Colombia and Mexico will re-
quire operators to fit the neces-
sary equipment by 1  January
2020, the same as the US Federal
Aviation Administration.
Some differences exist within
the mandates, however. As the
FAA and the European Aviation

Safety Agency are split on a re-
quirement for using an augment-
ed GPS signal, so are Latin Amer-
ican governments.
Colombia follows the EASA
approach, with no requirement
for the costly augmented GPS
technology, Gambrell says, while
Mexico’s draft rule adheres more
closely to the USA’s regulation,
requiring augmented GPS. ■

A


Brazilian dealer has united
Thrush Aircraft’s crop spray-
er and Quest’s Kodiak utility
turbo prop in a new campaign to
develop the country’s agricultur-
al aviation market.
Anápolis-based Thrush Air-
craft of Brazil added a sister com-
pany – Kodiak of Brazil – two
months ago to market the single-
engined turboprop as a comple-
mentary asset for companies that
already operate crop dusters.
Idaho-based Quest previously
delivered four Kodiaks into Brazil,
but has switched dealers to focus
on the agricultural market, says
Jim Cable, president of the sister
Thrush and Quest dealerships.
The move follows the rapid
growth of deliveries of turboprop-
powered Thrush 510 crop spray-
ers in the country since 2011, de-
spite local competition from the
smaller, ethanol-fuelled Embraer
Ipanema. Nearly 50 Thrush 510s
have been delivered to Brazilian
customers in the past six years,

giving it a market share of about
45%, Cable says.
Thrush’s growing clout is part-
ly a result of the services Cable
provides. Aircraft financing is ex-
pensive and difficult to secure in
Brazil, so Cable has used the US
Export-Import Bank to finance
90-95% of all Thrush deliveries

into the country. He also pro-
vides free training for pilots and
maintainers transitioning from
the piston-powered Ipanema to
turboprop aircraft.
In mid-August, Thrush of Bra-
zil demonstrated the first Red-
bird-designed full flight simula-
tor for agricultural aircraft, with

140 pilots having used the device
in three days at the Sindag agri-
cultural aviation conference,
Cable says.
With Thrush aircraft deliver-
ies growing, Cable says, his mar-
ket intelligence team detected a
new opportunity. Thrush own-
ers in Brazil often operate up to
six separate farms scattered over
a wide, remote area, and a pas-
senger-carrying, utility aircraft is
needed to allow them to fly pi-
lots and maintainers to these re-
mote airstrips.
The Kodiak, which was de-
signed as a sturdy transport for
missionaries to reach remote re-
gions, offers an ideal product for
the market. The aircraft is manu-
factured in Idaho, so a Kodiak
buyer in Brazil can also leverage
financing from the US Export-
Import Bank, adds Cable.
Kodiak of Brazil displayed its
first imported aircraft at LABACE,
hoping to close one of several
deals currently in negotiation. ■

LABACE 2017
Show report

US Export-Import Bank financing should add to the Quest’s appeal

Stephen Trimble/FlightGlobal

Brazil already requires ADS-B for helicopters serving oil drilling rigs

AirTeamImages

MARKETING

Kodiak lined up for agricultural duties


Thrush 510 dealer sees natural fit for rugged turboprop as support aircraft for crop duster operators in remote locations

REGULATION

Collins addresses raft of


satellite navigation rules

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