Hawker Beechcraft to sell....

[VBonanza]

to CHINA??? No! I hate that the world is all about money anymore, I would NEVER sell it, especially to China if I was in control. Beechcraft is one of my favorite AMERICAN plane companies, and I can't believe they are wanting to sell....guess I'll move on to Cirrus.

http://newsroom.hawkerbeechcraft.com/ne ... mbination/

[Jayhawk Jake]

What would you do, let it go bankrupt?

[Fishbed7701]

[quote]What would you do, let it go bankrupt?

[VBonanza]

I wouldn't let it go bankrupt..but there would have to be another way. And there is NOTHING wrong with Cessna. I love Cessna as much as I do Beechcraft. There's just no way around it anymore...so many companies need help, I just hate seeing it all go to another country, we are in debt too much to China anyway, I guess the bright side is at least they aren't just going out.

On the topic of Cessna, I love their planes, I want to train in a 162...if I can find any in my area.

[wifesaysno]

There is still American Champion, Maule, and dont forget us at WACO Classic! Us 3 are still family businesses. Including Cessna pretty much sums up the remaining American GA aircraft manufactures still owned in the US. Cessna though is a HUGE business owned by an even bigger conglomerate: Textron.
The rest fall into either LSA or experimental manufactures.

[machineman9]

This is going to save thousands of US jobs though. Funnily enough, I live fairly close to one of their UK plants - It's responsible for European sales and European maintenance.


It's unfortunate that they are going bankrupt, but you can either lose them entirely, or lose just a bit of them. They'll no doubt remain just as "American". After all, the Chinese want that quality (as that's why they're buying it). They'll just be the ones with the money.

[VBonanza]

This is going to save thousands of US jobs though. Funnily enough, I live fairly close to one of their UK plants - It's responsible for European sales and European maintenance.


It's unfortunate that they are going bankrupt, but you can either lose them entirely, or lose just a bit of them. They'll no doubt remain just as "American". After all, the Chinese want that quality (as that's why they're buying it). They'll just be the ones with the money.

True....it is better to lose just a bit than the whole thing.

[wifesaysno]

This is going to save thousands of US jobs though. Funnily enough, I live fairly close to one of their UK plants - It's responsible for European sales and European maintenance.


It's unfortunate that they are going bankrupt, but you can either lose them entirely, or lose just a bit of them. They'll no doubt remain just as "American". After all, the Chinese want that quality (as that's why they're buying it). They'll just be the ones with the money.

Big problem with that is the Chinese are notorious for copying people. So my fear at least is that they will copy all the Hawker Beechcraft stuff then burn the company. It is no secret the Chinese are pulling out all the stops trying to build up their buiz and private aviation markets. Im still expecting them to copy and burn Cirrus.

That said, it is also a sign of the times. For myself there is an element of pride. So yes it is good the plants are staying open, but it is still a slap in the face. Our economy has seen a tremendous amount of outsourcing already. My state, Michigan, got hit extremely hard by this due to the auto companies moving production lines else where. I personally know a lot of people that lost their jobs because of Chinese, Mexican, or Indian involvement in the company. So we really do not react well to a foreign country buying another one of our companies.
You have to remember in the States being American through and through and being made in America is a big deal for a manufacturer.

[Mictheslik]

Think of how we felt when the glorious name of Hawker was merged with an american company 

.mic

[wifesaysno]

[quote]Think of how we felt when the glorious name of Hawker was merged with an american company

[jetprop]

Imagine how it must be like to have never HAD an aircraft fabricator!

[Jayhawk Jake]

This is going to save thousands of US jobs though. Funnily enough, I live fairly close to one of their UK plants - It's responsible for European sales and European maintenance.


It's unfortunate that they are going bankrupt, but you can either lose them entirely, or lose just a bit of them. They'll no doubt remain just as "American". After all, the Chinese want that quality (as that's why they're buying it). They'll just be the ones with the money.

Big problem with that is the Chinese are notorious for copying people. So my fear at least is that they will copy all the Hawker Beechcraft stuff then burn the company. It is no secret the Chinese are pulling out all the stops trying to build up their buiz and private aviation markets. Im still expecting them to copy and burn Cirrus.

That said, it is also a sign of the times. For myself there is an element of pride. So yes it is good the plants are staying open, but it is still a slap in the face. Our economy has seen a tremendous amount of outsourcing already. My state, Michigan, got hit extremely hard by this due to the auto companies moving production lines else where. I personally know a lot of people that lost their jobs because of Chinese, Mexican, or Indian involvement in the company. So we really do not react well to a foreign country buying another one of our companies.
You have to remember in the States being American through and through and being made in America is a big deal for a manufacturer.

The only real danger in the Chinese copying technology from Hawker is the composite technology they have on the 4000 and Premier.  Beyond that you have 40 year old designs.  Besides, it's a partnership.  Could the company that bought Hawker Beech one day abandon the current business and start their own?  Maybe, but I don't know if legally that's possible, nor do I necessarily think that would be in their best business interests.

While being American and American made is important to some American customers, the fact is we are entering an era of a truly global economy.  Look at the Cessna partnership with AVIC, a large portion of the partnership is building Sovereigns in China for the Chinese market, which will be a huge market in the near future.  So American made has it's place, but so does Chinese made and when the Chinese market demands it, the manufacturers have to capitalize on the opportunity.