Write Tony Clement re: D-Jet

[star57]

Fellow pilots, please take the time to write Tony Clement,
Ottawa Address
278 Confederation Building
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Phone: 613-944-7740
Fax: 613-992-5092
Email: Clement.T@parl.gc.ca

Tell him that we deserve our own aviation Industry outside of Quebec, tell him to support Diamond Aircraft with respect to the D-Jet, while you are at it tell him that we have had enough Conservative politicians kill aviation projects, refresh his memory about the Avro Arrow.

If he get a few hundred or thousand Emails/Letters he may think about perserving the only change of the only true VLJ!

[SII]

ya he's got nothing else on the go right now

[cgzro]

We'd get better value for money if the government invested in engineering schools which spin off all manner of small companies that seem to do quite well.

We should put money into getting our kids really well educated so that they can compete with the kids in Asia because we sure as heck won't win with manufacturing.

So I don't agree, I'd rather see that $35 million go to an Engineering school or Medical school etc. You could educate a hundred doctors or aerospace / mechanical/ electrical engineers for that money and thats enough to start a dozen small companies.....

[Heliian]

I agree, the funds are much better spent on infrastructure or education or health or military. The demand for single engine jets won't be there, already too many manufacturers of VLJ's for the current demand. Good in theory back when the economy was in boom but the times have changed.

[SonicSun]

Fellow pilots, please take the time to write Tony Clement,
Ottawa Address
278 Confederation Building
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Phone: 613-944-7740
Fax: 613-992-5092
Email: Clement.T@parl.gc.ca

Tell him that we deserve our own aviation Industry outside of Quebec, tell him to support Diamond Aircraft with respect to the D-Jet, while you are at it tell him that we have had enough Conservative politicians kill aviation projects, refresh his memory about the Avro Arrow.

If he get a few hundred or thousand Emails/Letters he may think about perserving the only change of the only true VLJ!

SUPPPORT!

[ME109]

The last thing this country needs is more corporate welfare. If the D-jet cant stand on its own why should taxpayer fund the program? So some millionaire can buy the aircraft cheap? Sorry, I am not in favor of funding any millionaires hobbies or funding any corporations pipe dream. If we the taxpayers are guaranteed a return on our investment then I don't have an issue with it. If Diamond can't find buyers then this is a dead program & move on.

[2.5milefinal]

VLJ, not worth time or effort. It was passing fad 5 years ago.
Especially the single engine ones.
...sorry

[ahramin]

Much better to spend the money on education than corporate bailouts.

The D-Jet doesn't strike me as a very successful design in any case.

[N2]

Wait a minute....you're assuming Tony can read?

[midwingcrisis]

The Diamond Aircraft drama in London and conflict charges from the Liberals
by DavidAkin on Sun 03 Apr 2011 05:17 PM EDT | Permanent Link | Cosmos

Liberal Leader MIchael Ignatieff just left; Conservative leader Stephen Harper is there as I write this, and, tomorrow, NDP Leader Jack Layton will be in the Forest City, also known as London, Ont.

The most volatile riding is likely London West where Conservative Ed Holder is a first-time MP who knocked off in 2008 a five-time winner in Liberal Sue Barnes. Liberal Glen Pearson is a likely incumbent favourite in London North Centre (he succeeded former Liberal cabinet minister Joe Fontana who is now London's mayor). Similarly, Conservative Joe Preston looks to be in good shape in Elgin-Middlesex-London (Harper's and Layton's rallies, incidentally, are both at the same hotel in Preston's riding). And in London-Fanshawe, the NDP want Irene Mathyssen to hold that seat. She succeeded Pat O'Brien, who finished his parliamentary career as an Independent after leaving the Liberal caucus over the same-sex marriage issue.

For Londoners, one of the big campaign issues this year is federal help for a local aircraft manufacturer, Diamond Aircraft. The airplane maker needs a $30 million federal loan without which it could end up laying off up to 200 workers. Ignatieff backed the loan program during his visit last week.

So far, the Conservative government has resisted Diamond's request.

Reporters from the London Free Press, one of the Sun Media titles I write for, were keen to ask Harper about this issue during his visit there to day although Harper tends to take no questions at his afternoon events in cities he visits. Read their set-up piece for today's visit.

In the meantime, the Liberal war room is trying to stir the pot by suggesting that the old job of Harper's chief of staff, Nigel Wright, may be getting in the way of a decision. Here's what the war room has:

Is this why the Conservatives won’t commit to giving Diamond Aircraft its loan?

* Until last fall, Nigel Wright sat on the Board of Directors at Hawker Beechcraft and will likely return there once his stint as Chief of Staff to the Prime Minister comes to an end.
* Hawker Beechcraft is a competitor of companies like the London-based Diamond Aircraft.
* Diamond Aircraft needs a loan to proceed with production of its D-Jet, a new Very Light Jet (VLJ) class plane. It has secured $20 million from the private sector and $30 million from the Government of Ontario, but they are both contingent on a $30-million loan commitment from the federal government.
* The federal government has refused to provide this commitment, even though there is very clearly a market for this plane – according to Thomas House, owner of YouJet, business executives are downsizing from corporate jets to planes like the D-Jet, and he hopes to purchase several D-Jets for his company. (London Free Press, April 1, 2011)
* The downsizing by business executives has impacted Hawker Beechcraft, which announced last fall that it was suspending production of its corporate jet, Light Jet (LJ) class 400XP, due to a plunge in demand. (The Wichita Eagle, Nov. 13, 2010)
* Is this why the Conservatives are refusing to help Diamond Aircraft? Has Nigel Wright had any influence on the Conservatives’ decision?

[cgzro]

Is this why the Conservatives won’t commit to giving Diamond Aircraft its loan?

Or perpahs they did some due dilligence consisting of a couple of multiplications a division and a subtraction and decided that since most similar endevors had ended in large losses they would not risk our money?

[Hedley]

Ummmmm .... the minority government has fallen. The next government can and should make this decision, after the election results are in. The current, fallen government does NOT have the mandate to make this decision.

Jesus, people say Harper is too autocratic, and now you want him to break all the rules for this?! Grow up.

[Frank Gallagher]

We'd get better value for money if the government invested in engineering schools which spin off all manner of small companies that seem to do quite well.

We should put money into getting our kids really well educated so that they can compete with the kids in Asia because we sure as heck won't win with manufacturing.

So I don't agree, I'd rather see that $35 million go to an Engineering school or Medical school etc. You could educate a hundred doctors or aerospace / mechanical/ electrical engineers for that money and thats enough to start a dozen small companies.....

I somewhat agree as education is almost always a good thing however the problem there is that if these students don't have jobs immediately when they graduate then we just spent a ton of tax dollars to export our freshly educated workforce to the U.S or Europe.

I'm not sure if Diamond or Bombardier are struggling for engineers. If they are then it should be up to them to either import or educate workers on their own. The base needs to be a solid business environment in Canada in order to make it fiscally make sense to engineer and build aircraft here.

[Beefitarian]

Are these things certified to fly in China? That's what we need to be building here. High end products that need to be certified everywhere and are not easy to knock off.

[cgzro]

Are these things certified to fly in China? That's what we need to be building here. High end products that need to be certified everywhere and are not easy to knock off.

Not certified anywhere yet. Probably be 100 million or so to get certified.
Current cost projection is close to 2 million.

I'm guessing that running certification in some other country than the parent company allows arms length protection of the parent company in the event of bankruptcy. Not stupid .. but guess which countries tax payers get screwed if they go under.

[MichaelP]

There's an article in this month's "Plane&Pilot" suggesting the DA20 is the best training aircraft on the market, and in this I agree.
I really like the DA20 especially with the 100hp Rotax 912 S. In this aircraft Diamond have a 'certified' aeroplane to compete with the best of the LSAs in the US market with a chance of volume sales.

There's a divide between Diamond in London Ontario and Diamond Austria. Given the choice I'd deal with Austria all of the time. Service from London has been adequate to poor...
Poor after sales service was the prime reason the previous owner (from California) sold his DA42 to us, he loved his aeroplane even with the Thielerts, but service from London was not very good. (The Austro engined DA42 is not to be certified in Canada I am told!).
Talk to Diamond aircraft owners and you'll find that they all complain! This is not good.

Austria are sticking to the tried and true DV20 Katana with the 100hp 912 S engine, and it's a very nice aeroplane. I hope they do well with this.
The 912 S engine runs on environmentally friendly unleaded Mogas, and on unleaded 95 Avgas in Europe.

As far as the government is concerned... I wouldn't think the D-Jet was a good investment. There's a lot of competition out there with some well developed little jets.
How many firm orders does Diamond have?

Having written the above. I was stunned when Cretien cancelled the EH101 deal. When that happened I knew that Canada was not aiming to be a technologically advanced aviation country with jobs for skilled Canadians. They bought the helicopters off the shelf in any case and paid for the contract cancellation...

I'm not a voter, I'm an outsider, but it looks to me like the parties are serving up all sorts of 'family/healthcare/social welfare' promises for which there needs to be money.
I see corporate tax cuts as being a positive to encourage industry in this country... I well remember how Margaret Thatcher built British industry in order to pay for health care and the NHS became the best in the world for a while.

It's nice nice paying out money on social things but this money has to come from somewhere and will Canada follow European countries and Britain in having AUSTERITY measures down the road?

Canadian aviation does need investment, but should that be in Downsview, London, or even here in BC?

[cgzro]

It's nice nice paying out money on social things but this money has to come from somewhere and will Canada follow European countries and Britain in having AUSTERITY measures down the road?

Yes as Margret Thatcher said "socialism is fine until you run out of other people's money"

Canadian aviation does need investment, but should that be in Downsview, London, or even here in BC?

Given the choice I'd much prefer to put money on the revamped twin otter program out in BC. Those are serious working planes, with an existing type certificate to build on and a reasonable chance of success.

[Beefitarian]

What's wrong with the Twin Otter program?

[square]

Why should THEY get the money? I could build one. Just because the private sector won't invest in me doesn't mean it's not a good idea! WAIT-- that does mean it's not a good idea. Shit.

[swordfish]

I pay serious taxation dollars to support alcoholism in the NWT, social welfare, social housing, government wastage on a scale that has to be seen to be comprehended, and all kinds of extravagant, poorly thought-through, knee-jerk reactions, and make-work projects.

What I'd dearly love to see is my taxes go towards profitable enterprises that are not going to bleed the Treasury dry, as the above-quoted things DO. Supporting a minority interest group appealing to a microscopic portion of the population at large doesn't cut it.

If the company can't make it financially in today's economy, they crash & burn. e.g. failure of numerous airlines over the past 5 years. No government funding to support them. They have to be able to make it on their own merits and abilities.

Except, of course, our FLAG CARRIER...