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HAI/JAY MILLER


Uniflight, and Composite Technology. He was also president and general manager of Schweizer Aircraft Corp., under Sikorsky ownership, from 2008 to 2010. While there, he developed a deep passion for the aircraft


and its customers. Besides being the helicopter that thousands of pilots first trained in, the lightweight Schweizer was designed as a cost-effective platform for many other missions, including law enforcement, photography, and agriculture. When Sikorsky announced plans to sell the Schweizer lines, Horton dug deep into his contacts to pull together a company, a team, and the financing to bring the aircraft under his watchful eye once again. Announced in January 2018, the sale of the Schweizer


lines to Schweizer RSG came at a time of unprecedented low confidence in the aircraft. It had been years since a new aircraft had rolled off the line, and spare parts were hard to come by. “Basically, Schweizer operators were cannibalizing aircraft


to stay in the air,” Horton says. “Te supply chain was a mess. We were under the impression when we purchased the type certificates that a world-class supply chain was in place. It wasn’t. Tere were parts that hadn’t been available for years. For example, there were customers who put down deposits for driveshafts who’d been waiting five years. We inherited a lot of work.” Horton and his team determined their first and best action


was to rebuild the supply chain to a level that would support the estimated 2,900 Schweizer S300 series helicopters flying around the world. He brought in experts in drivetrains and those highly experienced in building intricate parts from original engineering drawings or even reverse engineering them from actual parts. Yet, each step seemed to bring a new obstacle. Some


questions arose about the original engineering drawings, bringing things to a halt until those questions were resolved. It was sometimes hard to find a vendor willing to work with a new company when significant orders were coming in from their other customers. For instance, Schweizer RSG lined up a supplier to manufacture main rotor driveshafts. Six months into waiting on those parts, that company dropped the contract to focus on larger orders, leaving Horton and his team scrambling for a new supplier. In another instance, the single and only Sikorsky contractor


for performing overhauls of the S300 main rotor transmissions went out of business. Schweizer RSG had to find a new vendor in short order and then help them apply for and receive FAA approvals to perform the work. “It has sure been an adventure,” Horton laughs, with a hint


of Southern diplomacy. “We chose to stick with it, though, and persisted. And we focused on changing things from the way they were done before. Tere isn’t just one company


SEPTEMBER 2021 ROTOR 33


that can do important things like overhaul transmissions now. We have three on three continents. “In time, we won the hearts of those vendors who weren’t


sure about taking a chance on a new company,” he says. “Today, we have some great vendors who’ve really supported this product with us and believe in it as much as we do.”


Building a Supply Chain By mid-2020, Schweizer RSG had brought its supply chain back, with a host of regularly requested parts—including main rotor driveshafts, blades, mast assemblies, and bear- ings—fully stocked at the factory and at service centers around the world for immediate shipment upon customer request. However, like many manufacturers, it has since experienced delays in deliveries from suppliers as a result of the staffing shortages, material shortfalls, and production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Horton hopes to see those pandemic-related delays reduced in the coming months.


In his role as president of Schweizer RSG, Dave Horton brings decades of aviation manufacturing experience— including a previous stint as Schweizer president—as well as an appreciation for the iconic aircraft.


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