Will Give Company Access To New Markets

Autopilot manufacturer S-TEC told attendees at EAA AirVenture 2008 this week the company has essentially completed its merger with Chelton Flight Systems, and the newly-joined companies are ready to get down to business from a centralized facility.

Chelton's UK-based parent company, Cobham, completed the purchase of S-TEC in January; in April, the company announced its plans to merge the two autopilot manufacturers.

At a press conference at Oshkosh Monday, S-TEC announced the closing of the Boise, ID location of Chelton, effective July 31. "All key personnel from the Boise location are now in place at our Mineral Wells, TX facility," said Greg Plantz, Vice President of Sales and Marketing.

So what does this mean for S-TEC? The company tells ANN the consolidated operation now gives them the opportunity to expand into the Part 27 market, in which Chelton already has a strong foothold. Part 27 deals with airworthiness certification of rotorcraft.

Already established in the Part 23 market (airworthiness certification of aircraft), they are hoping that this new market will help them expand into airworthiness certification of transport category aircraft and helicopters (Part 25 and Part 29 respectively). Among other minor changes, this should also allow S-TEC to get their STCs in about the third of time it normally does, and they have also realigned their sales division to better serve their customers.

So what about the customers of S-TEC and Chelton? Plantz says "So far the transition has been seamless. Chelton customers have been able to contact Chelton for support and S-TEC customers have been able to contact S-TEC for support. On top of that, Chelton is still going to continue working on their other products and projects.

"We want to affirm to our customers that everything should be business as usual," he concluded.

FMI: www.s-tec.com, www.cheltonflightsystems.com