Like every other company in GA, it’s been a “rough” couple of years at BRS Aerospace, which manufactures whole airplane parachute systems. But that’s changing, the company’s president, Larry Williams, reported at AirVenture. “We’re starting to see a bit of recovery,” he said. “In May we had the highest sales ever in the history of the company.”
More than $1 million of the $1.7 million in sales, however, was from the company’s defense business. A few years ago, the company diversified into the defense business, manufacturing parachutes for unmanned aerial vehicles as well as parachute systems for the military’s basic training aircraft.
“As of May, we surpassed our 2009 revenues,” he said. “Aviation sales are slightly better than 2009, but we’re not seeing a strong recovery yet.”
While the diversification into the military business has spurred growth at the company — the number of employees has increased from 12 two years ago to more than 300 today — BRS is still committed to GA, Williams said.
“We’ve developed a number of new products, including a jet chute,” he said, noting the company had to suspend many of the new product developments with the downturn in the economy. “But we’re back in product development,” he said.
The company has placed a bid on providing the parachute system on the new Cirrus Vision Jet. It also has developed a system for the Diamond D-JET. “We have a 5000 series parachute that’s been drop-tested,” he said. “It’s ready — all we need is to drop it one more time for certification.”
For more information: BRSAerospace.
