Textron

frfly172

frfly172

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Textron is buying Beechcraft,this should be interesting.
 
I wonder if they will keep using Continental engines or change the cowl to take the Lycoming. The Machen conversion was a travesty.
 
Beechcraft will be gone in a year I predict. They certainly won't spend much money trying to throw money to another division. The Columbia's are still Continental powered and the Groundcatcher was designed with a Continental.
 
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They won't change the current Beech products to fit a Lycoming unless there is a tangible benefit. See Corvallis/Columbia and GroundCatcher.

I would hope they keep the G36/G58 production going. We'll have to see, but it would be a nice way to round out their fleet. They didn't close Columbia down.
 
I can certainly see the twin line continuing. Cessna pretty much ditched out of the twin market (other than the citations). The Bonanza production/sales has been so abysmal of late, that it's probably in serious jeopardy.
 
I suspect their principal interest is the turbine aircraft line, not Bonanzas or Barons, and they don't own a turbine aircraft engine operation. Of course, many of us remember the Cessna shift from Continental to Lycoming when Textron bought Lycoming (or was it when they bought Cessna? :dunno: ), and they do have at least one aircraft in their history with Lycoming engines (Duke) so it is possible on the BE36/58 lines -- just not probable given the low production volume and the expense of recertifying them.
 
It also depends on what they want to do. Cessna did make a few changes to the Columbia as I recall, and I thought it's been doing alright. I may be recalling incorrectly, though.

The real issue to me is price. IIRC the prices aren't that much different from a Malibu. If I were in the market for a new plane, it would be hard to go for an A36 over a Malibu.
 
Ron Levy said:
I suspect their principal interest is the turbine aircraft line, not Bonanzas or Barons, and they don't own a turbine aircraft engine operation. Of course, many of us remember the Cessna shift from Continental to Lycoming when Textron bought Lycoming (or was it when they bought Cessna? :dunno: ), and they do have at least one aircraft in their history with Lycoming engines (Duke) so it is possible on the BE36/58 lines -- just not probable given the low production volume and the expense of recertifying them.
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The Travelair and 56TC Baron also had Lycomings as well as most of the 'Baby Beech' series through the Seminole except for the one that used the O-340. All the planes have STCs for Lycoming conversions so the cost of certification would just be to purchase those STCs.
 
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Maybe cessna will be smart enough to put 2 doors on Bonanzas
 
Textron - the ever growing monopoly... Thought parts were expensive, wait till CessBeech grabs your wallet.
 
bnt83 said:
Textron - the ever growing monopoly... Thought parts were expensive, wait till CessBeech grabs your wallet.
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No kidding. Must be following the Fender guitar business model....just buy out all of the competition.
 
As a Beech owner with a Lycoming, someone tell me how I should feel about this.
 
The industry is coming round full circle, they should just call it The Travel Air company since Walter Beech and Clyde Cessna worked together there IIRC.
 
Henning said:
The industry is coming round full circle, they should just call it The Travel Air company since Walter Beech and Clyde Cessna worked together there IIRC.
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You are correct. Travel Air was Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman
 
Fearless Tower said:
No kidding. Must be following the Fender guitar business model....just buy out all of the competition.
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Lycoming tried to buy Superior a few years ago with the intent of shutting them down. They ended up being denied because it was considered a monopolizing move. I fail to see how buying up a maker of PMA'd parts for your engines is moving towards monopoly, but buying up a new OEM competitor isn't.

bnt83 said:
Beechna? CessBeech? Cesscraft?
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Cessna will stay Cessna. We'll see what happens to Beech and the Bo/Baron.

Challenged said:
As a Beech owner with a Lycoming, someone tell me how I should feel about this.
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First tell me about your childhood. :D
 
Lycoming did have a turbine division but they sold it off (the vestiges of it were merged into Garrett). As for "Textron," Lycoming was there first and then they bought Cessna. The Textron corporate hierarchy is actually that of the old AVCO. After acquiring Textron (which was originally a company called Specialty Yarns), they decided that "Textron" sounded more modern and adopted that name.

I agree, the King Airs are probably another hole in the Cessna line. The only turboprop they have are the Caravans.
 
flyingron said:
Lycoming did have a turbine division but they sold it off (the vestiges of it were merged into Garrett). As for "Textron," Lycoming was there first and then they bought Cessna. The Textron corporate hierarchy is actually that of the old AVCO. After acquiring Textron (which was originally a company called Specialty Yarns), they decided that "Textron" sounded more modern and adopted that name.

I agree, the King Airs are probably another hole in the Cessna line. The only turboprop they have are the Caravans.
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Although they have the TC and likely the tooling for the 425 & 441.
 
flyingron said:
Lycoming did have a turbine division but they sold it off (the vestiges of it were merged into Garrett). As for "Textron," Lycoming was there first and then they bought Cessna. The Textron corporate hierarchy is actually that of the old AVCO. After acquiring Textron (which was originally a company called Specialty Yarns), they decided that "Textron" sounded more modern and adopted that name.
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And most folks don't realize that AVCO bought and owned the old Crosley broadcasting company (and other radio/TV companies) including WLW radio in Cincinnati and WWDC in Washington. Those were sold in the mid-70's.
 
Henning said:
Although they have the TC and likely the tooling for the 425 & 441.
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I'd be shocked if they still have the tooling in serviceable condition for those planes. When they re-started the piston lines, they had to make new tooling and they were only shut down for <10 years at that point...

I'm sure the King Airs, Special Missions, and T-6 lines were the meat of the deal, and perhaps the new Scorpion will fit into that portfolio pretty well. I don't think the G36/G58 compete with any existing Cessna product, but it will be interesting to see if they keep them going or not due to the absurdly low volume right now.
 
What are the possibilities of the combined company offering a turbine single?

I don't know how many sales the PC-12/Meridian/TBM lines produce. What do you suppose the costs would be to develop such an aircraft?
 
3393RP said:
What are the possibilities of the combined company offering a turbine single?

I don't know how many sales the PC-12/Meridian/TBM lines produce. What do you suppose the costs would be to develop such an aircraft?
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Cessna doesn't produce any pressurized planes other than Citations. They do currently offer a turbine single - the Caravan. It can be purchased in a lavish configuration, so you can have your slow, high cost, oversized 172. Since the new company will have the King Air line which is very popular, I can't see why they'd bother to produce a turboprop single to compete with the PC-12/Meridian/TBM. The costs would be very high and the payoff would probably be minimal.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Cessna doesn't produce any pressurized planes other than Citations. They do currently offer a turbine single - the Caravan. It can be purchased in a lavish configuration, so you can have your slow, high cost, oversized 172. Since the new company will have the King Air line which is very popular, I can't see why they'd bother to produce a turboprop single to compete with the PC-12/Meridian/TBM. The costs would be very high and the payoff would probably be minimal.
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I should have specified I meant a turbine single more along the lines of the three I mentioned, the Caravan being a freight hauler/short haul people mover sort of aircraft.

You are undoubtedly correct, the development costs would never be recovered in today's market.
 
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