Company Restructures, Makes Plans For Oshkosh

A lot of GA industry insiders were dismayed when OMF GmBH threw in the financial towel last year, laying off its workers and shutting down production of the fledgling Symphony-160. Now, the company says it's back in both Germany and Canada, with plans to strut its stuff at AirVenture 2004 later this month.

Paul Costanzo, president and CEO of Symphony Aircraft Industries, told ANN in a conference call Tuesday that OMF Flugslugwerke of Germany had purchased the assets of the bankrupt OMF GmBH, bringing aboard at least three members of the original management team.

"A lot of things have now come together," he said from his company headquarters in Three Rivers, Quebec. His new company, Symphony Aircraft Industries, will accept transfer of the 160 manufacturing type design by the end of this week.

"I always thought I could put it back together," he said. "It's just too good a product. But some days, I really wondered what I was doing," given the amount of red tape he had to negotiate in resurrecting the company.

There are now 41 Symphony 160s flying -- 39 of them in the hands of customers. Thirty-one of them are based in the US.

Costanzo said the new company's initial focus will be on manufacturing and selling the 160. But he said German aviation officials would issue an STC for a diesel engine, the Symphony 135D, by the end of the year. He expects US and Canadian certification shortly after that. The company is also working on its first four-place offering, the Symphony 250 and expects to fly it in a little over a year, with production to follow in the fall of 2006.

FMI: www.symphonyaircraftindustries.com