Will Take Profit Hit In Name Of Future Designs

Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc. -- manufacturer of whole-airplane parachute recovery systems for general aviation and recreational aircraft -- told ANN this week a percentage of the company's overall revenues will be invested in parachute canopy design research, and technology to enhance the capability and safety of next generation systems.

The BRS board recently elected to fund an internal Research & Development program that will be modeled after the company's recently completed NASA contract.

"We believe this investment in cutting edge materials, shapes and construction techniques will allow us to continue to provide future products to meet advanced customer needs," said BRS Board Chairman Bob Nelson. "The market's rapidly growing acceptance of whole airplane -- and now including jet -- parachute systems is demanding even greater performance from our already highly reliable systems, and this investment will provide necessary funding. We're willing to make this investment as we expect our gross margin percentage to continue its positive trend along with the top line revenue growth."

"If it were to mean accepting more modest profits in the short term to achieve this goal, we believe the effect on future business wins could be substantial," Nelson added.

BRS Founder Boris Popov said, "A very important goal of this project is to allow us to use dedicated resources aimed at a specific development project that has a bit of a longer time horizon. I've always been committed to innovative thinking, and this novel method of funding allows for greater experimentation and technological creativity."

"While the rest of BRS is dedicated to the modern lean methods of delivering just-in-time products to OEM customers, this new funding investment allows us to take defined risks on projects that can have the potential to expand OEM business while expanding our business into new commercial and military applications that we are currently aggressively pursuing," Williams added.

BRS designs, manufactures and distributes whole-plane emergency parachute systems for use on general aviation and recreational aircraft. Since 1981, BRS has delivered more than 23,000 parachute systems to aircraft owners around the world, including over 2,800 systems on certified aircraft like the Cirrus SR20 and SR22 (below).

To date, BRS parachute recovery systems have been credited with saving the lives of 194 pilots and passengers.

FMI: www.brsparachutes.com