Avionics News July 2023 - 36

SOUTHEAST AEROSPACE
Continued from page 35
rewarding way to support our array of customers. And, of
course, it benefits SEA because we get new sales opportunities
by holding the STC for that upgrade. "
Whether it's a one-off aircraft avionics upgrade or
a fleetwide STC solution, one major advantage that
SEA's team has is that over the years, the company has
developed a significant array of in-house capabilities,
including engineering and design, structural
manufacturing and machining, and complex harness
fabrication, to name a few.
They have an STC for that ... or will create one
While many of the company's growing list of
supplemental type certificates have been created to meet a
specific customer's needs, SEA has relied on its extensive
knowledge and experience in aircraft modifications to
seed its own programs.
Luke Gomoll, SEA's aircraft modification sales
representative, explained that the company invests a lot
of time and resources into determining what avionics will
fit a need and a solid business plan that includes knowing
which aircraft to target the STC.
If there aren't enough aircraft in the fleet to provide a
solid return on investment, it's a no-go, no matter how
attractive the program may seem. One aircraft does not
make a good STC partner.
" We also have to consider the time it will take to get
the required return on investment, as well as the cost of
marketing the STC to operators, " Gomoll said. " Plus,
there's the cost of training our engineering and sales
teams. There's a lot more to developing a successful STC
program than most people realize. "
One recent STC program that holds a lot of promise
for SEA is the one obtained to add a special-missions
operator station in Bell 407 helicopters used by airborne
law enforcement.
The new operator station cabinet provides mounting
provisions for video monitors as well as Dzus-mounted
electrical equipment such as communications control
panels and recording equipment - all selected and
installed by the end user.
To simplify installation and provide optimum flexibility,
SEA's new operator station replaces the left-side, aftfacing
passenger seat, and has no other impact on the
cabin's interior.
" Our machine shop allows us to build almost anything
36 avionics news * july 2023
our customers need, and since it's not always practical
for customers to fly their Bell 407s to Melbourne, we
created this STC solution, " explained Nathan Hernandez,
SEA's business development manager. " By developing
and certifying a variety of special-mission consoles,
we are assisting the ISR (intelligence, surveillance
and reconnaissance) community in obtaining quality
workstations for their tactical flight officers, while also
being able to work with the local shops they already have
good relationships with.
" Our engineering team worked closely with some
of the finest TFOs in law enforcement and created a
workstation design that is comfortable, effective and
practical. We look forward to providing more options to
the ALE community as we continue to develop and certify
additional products. "
" IT TOOK A LOT OF WORK TO SHAPE THE
STCs INTO USABLE, REPEATABLE AND
SELLABLE PRODUCTS, BUT BOTH GI 275 STCs
PROVIDE A TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY TO
THE GARMIN DEALER NETWORK TO PROVIDE
THESE SOLUTIONS TO PART 25 BUSINESS JET
AIRCRAFT OWNERS. "
Luk e Gomoll
Big opportunities with little STCs
Even with a highly experienced engineering and
fabrication team on-site, not all of SEA's STC programs are
for " major " modifications. One recent program was for a
relatively simple component, but it enables operators to make
a significant upgrade to a variety of Part 25 business aircraft.
" With our background and experience in providing
avionics upgrades for Part 25 business jet aircraft, we
observed that there were not many options for adding new
electronic standby instruments and IVSIs into these panels
without incurring significant downtime and cost, " Gomoll
said. " We saw these problems as an opportunity to put
together new STC programs to replace existing ESIs and
IVSIs in these legacy panels. "
He explained that when Garmin introduced the GI
275 electronic flight display, SEA saw these new units as
the ideal cost-effective solution to the costly repair and
replacement of older mechanical instruments. They partnered
with the OEM to create the STCs that enable the installation
of the GI 275s as a simple all-in-one option to replace
obsolete ESI and electromechanical standby instruments.
While the swap may seem simple, it wasn't. The legacy
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