Mid-Continent Instruments’ work to expand its international business seems to be paying off.
The company has secured a contract with Eurocopter Deutschland to provide emergency power supply units for EC135 and EC145 civilian helicopters.
The units are from Mid-Continents’ new division, called TrueBlue Power, which is developing power management units using lithium-ion chemistry. The units were chosen because they offer high performance, low maintenance, lower cost of ownership and a 63 weight savings over traditional lead-acid batteries, the company said.
“It is a great honor to have Eurocopter as our first European OEM customer for the MD835 Emergency Power Supply,” Mid-Continent director of sales Tom Genovese said in a statement.
Eurocopter Deutschland is a subsidiary of European Aeronautics Defense and Space Company, or EADS.
Flight Options, a fractional jet company based in Cleveland, has secured $167 million in financing from Brazil’s Export-Import Bank to buy Phenom 300 jets from Brazil manufacturer Embraer.
It’s the first agreement between Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Economico e Social and a fractional jet operator. The money will be guaranteed by the Brazilian Ministry of Finance.
In 2007, Flight Options placed an order for 100 Phenom 300 business jets with an option for 50 more. The deal is valued at $1.2 billion at list prices. Flight Options began taking delivery in May 2010 and has eight Phenom 300 light jets currently in service.
It plans to have 15 in operation by the end of the year.
As sales have increased, Flight Options has been recalling furloughed pilots, reopening maintenance centers and investing in customer service and operations, the company said.
