Armand Rivard Attempting to Foreclose On Lanshe
The continuing drama surrounding
Lanshe Aerospace has hit a new low. After months of rumors of
various legal skirmishes, at least one questionable aircraft sale,
and a number of conflicting actions/statements from Lanshe Aero's
principal, Wadi Rahim (below, right); Lake Aircraft owner Armand
Rivard has filed suit to recover the Lake Aircraft line.
Rivard's legal filings seem to implicate Lanshe (et al) in a
pattern of deception, breach of contract, bad business practices
and the use of the Lake Aircraft assets in ways that may not be
fully lawful or within the agreements they had entered into,
previously. The coming legal battle is due to be a complicated one
judging by the tone and content of various documents now in the
public domain. Rivard is now attempting to protect what he
attempted to sell to Rahim for "fear that the Property is likely to
be sold, destroyed, concealed, or removed from the jurisdiction of
the court, or transferred to an innocent purchaser."
This is not the first skirmish various entities have had with
Lanshe, which has acquired a contentious reputation over the past
year. Previously, ANN had reported the story of Lanshe's "first"
production aircraft sale to a Texas pilot. It seemed like good news
at first... especially to those of us who spent a LOT of time with
that series of airplanes and grew to love them.
ANN soon learned that this was NOT a
new production ship, but one that had been "completed" well before
Micco shut their doors when the Seminoles pulled the plug on what
was (then) a promising aircraft company. Worse, the next rumors to
circulate said that the bird that was delivered was "never meant to
be sold to the public," to boot, and was actually a VERY tired old
test vehicle that had seen some pretty tough usage. Intrigued (and
concerned); ANN staffers contacted Lanshe Aerospace and were
initially given a very positive update that promised that Lanshe
was getting ready to produce one of the old Micco birds a month and
one of the Lakes each month, as well.
As ANN sought particulars about that first aircraft, (then)
Lanshe salesman Keith Martinich (at first) seemed to forget the
specifics (even the 'N' number) of the ONLY aircraft they had yet
sold... to Debra Cunningham of TX. As ANN got into a bit more
detail, Martinich's memory improved to the point where he disclosed
the serial number and a little more of the history of the aircraft,
repeatedly informing us that this was a "new" airplane since it had
"never" before been titled. FAA records showed it (then)
titled to Lanshe and its year of manufacture as 2000. A previous
registration, to the original manufacturer, Micco Aircraft, had
also been recorded.
We contacted officials of the now-defunct Micco Aircraft
operation as the details got (increasingly) murky, and were told in
no uncertain terms that the aircraft in question, N820SP, was "NOT
a new airplane." As previously noted, this machine had been a test
vehicle that was converted over to an SP26 AFTER serving a tough
role as an SP20 test aircraft.
Ms. Cunningham came to understand this as well. Debra
Cunningham was a highly motivated commercial and instrument rated
pilot who had moved up to her SP26 from a Bellanca Viking, and
loved what the SP26 was all about. "They're just beautiful
airplanes, very exciting" she said. But her rapture with the sexy
little two seat taildragger gave way to concern as a number of
maintenance issues occurred... including "popped rivets" and
worrisome landing gear issues. Cunningham's concern continued to
grow as she learned that her new airplane, sold to her as a factory
demonstrator, wasn't even a new SP26... but a homogenized convert
from the SP20 program... and had been a part of some of the most
rigorous tests that the certification program would undertake.
"That puppy was rode hard and put up wet..." one former Micco
staffer told us. The aircraft had been used in a number of
iterations as a test vehicle. It conducted Vd dive testing, and was
saved once by a spin chute when early attempts to produce a
spinnable aircraft ran into problems and the aircraft entered an
unrecoverable spin. A number of assemblies were damaged, bent, and
"crunched," during testing -- to be replaced and updated as the
aircraft took on each new task... but according to former Micco
Aircraft President Dewitt Beckett, "that aircraft should never have
been sold to the public... it was OK to use as a factory bird and a
demonstrator, where we could keep an eye on it and keep learning
from it, but selling it is a serious 'safety of flight' issue and I
can't believe that they sold it to a buyer without disclosing this
history. I wouldn't have touched it with a ten foot pole. Heck, I
remember promising an FAA person that we would never sell that
airplane... that it would only be a factory ship."
We got back to Lanshe quickly and confronted them with our
discussions with Cunningham and Beckett... which, by then, did not
sit well with Lanshe's Martinich. Martinich became difficult to
talk to, this time around. We kept asking questions and he kept
asking us what the question was... but in response to some repeated
inquiries, he eventually stated that Ms. Cunningham was still "very
happy with her airplane," and feigned surprise when we said that
she was not and had said so to us just a few hours earlier. Later
in the conversation, he announced that he knew we had talked to her
and that he had talked to her again, since... still trying to
assert that Cunningham was a happy customer and that no
misrepresentations had been made. We attempted to discuss the
history of the aircraft... which Martinich flatly refused to get
into, in any real detail. Martinich eventually noted that the
aircraft (N820SP, SN 26001) "never went through anything
abnormal... and never did anything that every aircraft doesn't also
do when it's built and certified. It's no different than any
other."
Martinich repeatedly denied any misrepresentation(s) over the
sale of the aircraft. Though a number of his statements conflicted
with others he had given earlier, as our questioning persisted he
became insulting and the call was terminated... but not before he
tried to sell ANN an airplane, too...
Beckett flatly denied this revisionist history, calling
Martinich's statements "absolutely untrue. That airplane was spun,
it was worked hard, it used a spin chute, it was used in flutter
testing, and was not a truly standard airplane... he's just not
telling the truth about that airplane." Cunningham has also (since)
talked to Beckett and now voices strong concern over flying her
airplane, as a result. "I had concerns before (citing the rivet
problem), and now I wouldn't put my husband in it... I know they
haven't been truthful with me. I really am worried."
Cunningham paid $150K for the bird -- well below the normal
price for a new SP26... but thought that the price difference (as
she was told) was because of the aircraft's former status as a 480
hour factory demonstrator.
Ultimately; Cunningham
got her money back... but not without a lot of trouble and
heartache and some very questionable actions and statements on the
part of Lanshe...
Now... in light of the recent revelations disclosed by Lake's
Armand Rivard as well as other data we've collected from a number
of other sources (including our interaction with Lanshe), our
concerns over the course of Lanshe and the future of the Micco and
Lake Aircraft lines has reached a critical level. Mind you; this is
a matter that is going before the courts and they will ultimately
decide who did what to whom... but the previous history we've
documented on Lanshe/Rahim does nothing to disprove Rivard's
contentions.
It's sure to be an interesting, if sad, story... we'll keep you
informed.