Symphony Ramps Up North American Production

Symphony President, Paul Costanzo, and American Symphony principal, Tim Baldwin, painted the history and present status of the Symphony aircraft design in this forum at AOPA Expo in Long Beach (CA).

They said the story began in 2001 when OMF GmbH received FAA certification for the Symphony 160, a two-place, tri-cycle gear, high-wing aircraft. It is powered by a Lycoming for a cruise of 128 kts. Originally certified in Germany, the aircraft was designed to fill the market niche left unfilled since production of the Cessna 152 and Piper Tomahawk ended two decades ago. OMF Aircraft in Canada was to create a strong North American presence for the Symphony line of aircraft.

According to Costanzo, financial woes led to the demise of both companies by January, 2004. Then Costanzo, president of the former OMF Aircraft, put together a group of US and Canadian investors who formed Symphony Aircraft Industries (SAI) headquartered in Three Rivers, Quebec, Canada. They purchased the assets of the former companies including the type certificate. SAI also created a subsidiary named American Symphony Aircraft, Inc., located in Moline (IL), to be distributor in the US under the leadership of Tim Baldwin.

"All of us at Symphony have been working hard to establish our supply chain and start production," said Symphony President, Paul Costanzo. "We are now in the process of building our first two aircraft, a process that will speed up until we are at full production in February, 2005."

Symphony's 2005 production schedule includes:

• Q1 2005 7 units
• Q2 2005 12 units
• Q3 2005 14 units
• Q4 2005 17 units
• Total 2005 50 units

FMI www.symphonyaircraft.com