It was reported last month that the European Union has approved on a formal basis the company’s manufacturing campus in Portgual. The company has already begun construction earlier in the Summer of 2009 but it has now been blessed by the EU. The facility is going to be a very large 330,00 square foot facility in Evora, Portugal. The first part of the facility is now set to be complete at the end of 2011.
“This announcement is faithful to Embraer’s practices where all regional development projects have to be formally and properly approved. We’ve been waiting for the European Union to give us its final okay,” Luiz Fuchs, president of Embraer Aviation Europe, stated. The first part of the construction is for a manufacturing complex for airframe structures and components in composite materials. Fuchs went on to state, “The construction of the second unit, dedicated to the production of metallic airframe structures, will begin shortly. Meanwhile, we are progressing with the selection of suppliers.” Fuchs indicated that Embraer studied its globalization process and identified Portugal as the country offering the best resources. “The historical connection between the two countries was an important factor,” he indicated in his statements.
This is good news for EU and for the people that work at the Embraer complex. We look for good things coming from Embraer in the coming years.
I was reading recently about the trials and tribulations of a the Embraer Legacy 600 that was manufactured in South America, had a mid-air collision with another jet and had to be refurbished in a sense. The jet was reported to be recovered and repaired:
The Legacy 600–now registered as N965LL–was recovered by a mobile repair team from Cleveland-based Constant Aviation, which was hired by the new owners of the Legacy to recover and repair the jet.
This is an extraordinary story about a jet that will be owned by someone and used as a private or business aircraft, but it also brings to mind man questions in my mind. The idea that this damage has occurred to this aircraft makes me wonder what other aircraft had endured over their lifetime. I think it is imperative that when purchasing an aircraft that each potential owner has a clear picture of the maintenance of the aircraft and the repairs that have been made. Not every aircraft has has had the type of history that this Embraer Legacy 600 has had, but it is important to learn about a jet’s history. It is important that you use a company that is trusted in the industry. Some of the repairs that this jet endured were reported:
The Legacy had a damaged left elevator and the left wing was missing its winglet. “Some structural repairs had to be done to get it in a position to where we could fly it,” Maiden said, “even on a ferry permit.” This included replacing the horizontal stabilizer before the Legacy left the airbase.
The humid jungle environment in Brazil was not kind to the airplane, which sat outside for a year-and-a-half after the accident, and all of its Honeywell avionics displays had to be replaced, he said. The fuel tanks were clean and the Rolls-Royce AE3007 engines had been preserved–although they hadn’t been run, they were in good shape. “We did extensive boroscoping and testing to verify the validity of the engines,” he said. The airframe was also free of corrosion. “We had a team of 10 people,” he said, “and we spent three weeks doing testing and analyzing all the systems to make sure it was a safe airplane to put back in the air.”
Not every private aircraft has a story of this one but each previously owned aircraft has a history. Make sure you work with a company that can help you learn about that history, make informed decisions, and of course buyer beware. L&L International has been doing business in this area for a number of years and they can assist you in every facet of your research and can guide your buying process.
