AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2011 - 46

“Our job isn’t to give the customer what he wants. It’s to give the customer what he’s going to want in the future.”
six-seat, 340-knot composite aircraft that he had missed on the day that it came to him was the right launching pad for his return to general aviation manufacturing. “This is a composite airplane used for personal transportation, and that’s an area I’m very familiar with,” said Klapmeier, now CEO of the renamed Kestrel Aircraft Company (www. kestrel.aero). “I know the certification and production issues, and I know the in cruise—as long as the cruise speed stays over 300. Even with the changes we’re talking about, I think our cruise speed is going to be very respectable, likely around 325 knots.” Klapmeier said the Kestrel’s target price is between $2.5 million and $3 million, and that its physical dimensions will be larger than those of a TBM 850 and smaller than those of a Pilatus PC–12. An airframe parachute, which Klapmeier had insisted that all Cirrus If that sounds like Klapmeier’s heart isn’t really in the Kestrel project and he’s already looking ahead to other programs, he insists that perception is wrong. “My heart isn’t in a singleengine jet,” he said. “It’s in a whole line of products.” We’re going to argue Klapmeier expects the new firm to manufacture and sell up to 75 turboprops a year at its facility in Brunswick, Maine, a sprawling forA PT6A powers the mer U.S. naval Kestrel prototype, air station that but the company has been used for hasn’t made a final decades to operdecision about ate, house, and what engine will be used on production maintain a fleet airplanes. The of antisubmarine prototype has flown aircraft that patrol a great deal from the Atlantic. grass runways— The process of and production converting a hanairplanes are gar building built expected to in 2005 to hold a preserve this half-dozen P–3 capability. Orion submarine hunters into an aircraft production factory “isn’t as complicated as you might think,” Klapmeier said. There’s plenty of vacant space, power, and runway access. And the industrial ovens and specialized equipment for making composite aircraft components can be brought in and out relatively easily. There’s no history of aircraft production in coastal Maine, but Klapmeier said the absence of aerospace manufacturing experience doesn’t bother him. “Maine isn’t top of mind when it comes to aerospace manufacturing, but neither was Duluth when Cirrus came to Minnesota,” he said. “The important thing is that people in Maine know how to build things that look good and work well, and you can see that in the marine industry there. We’ll be able to apply those same kinds of skills and craftsmanship to aircraft production.”

market. This is the right start. They really do build a better mousetrap.” That’s not to say that Klapmeier, designer of a handful of Experimental-category aircraft (including a single-engine, composite turboprop before starting the FAA-certified Cirrus line, doesn’t see room for improvement in the Kestrel. Klapmeier and his new team expect to make many alterations: The wing is likely to grow in area, the cabin will expand for greater roominess, the cockpit will become easier to climb in and out of, and control surfaces will get bigger to improve low-speed handling. As a result, the Kestrel’s top speed and stall speed are sure to be reduced. “We’re still evaluating the cost and performance tradeoffs,” Klapmeier said. “I’d rather have a five-knot-slower stall speed than an additional 20 knots
AOPA PILOT •

aircraft include as standard equipment, will be an option in the Kestrel. “Our job isn’t to give the customer what he wants. It’s to give the customer what he’s going to want in the future— and that’s not necessarily the same thing,” he said. Klapmeier has already reconstituted some of the original Cirrus design team to lead a Kestrel makeover and expand the product line. He also remains convinced that a single-engine jet can be a bigger seller than any turboprop. “Turboprops weigh more and cost more,” Klapmeier said. “There’s a market for them among people who need to lift more weight or take off and land at shorter runways. But a single-engine jet still wins in most scenarios, and I still think the single-engine jet has the larger market.”

46 • FEBRUARY

2011

http://www.kestrel.aero http://www.kestrel.aero

AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - February 2011