The US company Ace Aeronautics, which was commissioned to upgrade the Bundesheer Black Hawks, is rumored to be bankrupt. We therefore took a closer look at the situation and quickly established that there was no truth to the rumors: There is no truth to the rumors.
One thing at a time: As reported the increasingly failing Rockwell-Collins color displays on the army’s now 17-year-old Black Hawks need to be replaced and extensive cockpit modifications carried out. The US company Ace Aeronautics, based in Huntsville (Alabama), was commissioned to do this, but – as we and numerous (including high-ranking) members of the armed forces have heard from several sources in recent weeks – it is now bankrupt. The first S-70A42 of the red-white-red armed forces, which has been with Ace Aeronautics for longer than planned, is therefore part of the bankruptcy estate and “lost” for the armed forces – so the rumors continue. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWB-OSfuxVA So far, so bad. The truth is, however, that there is no substantiated evidence for this alleged bankruptcy. Ace Aeronautics is therefore neither bankrupt nor at an end. Rather, the Covid-19 pandemic has put a huge spanner in the works for the company – and therefore also for our program – in recent months. The company even had to close temporarily and “our” program managers had to move to their home offices. Details that – so we heard – would otherwise have been clarified within hours between Vienna and Alabama, and of which there were of course hundreds in the course of scaffolding and approval in recent weeks and months, therefore took days to clarify. In addition, there were also delays with the inspectors from the US authorities (FAA etc.) due to Covid-19. Apart from this, however, the company’s business continued as normal and the first Austrian S-70 has now also been completed. It completed a total of 24 flights with more than 30 flight hours in the USA, has already been checked and approved by representatives of the authorities and is ready for transportation. Those responsible at the Austrian Armed Forces want to bring the rotorcraft home this year if possible – subject to the further development of the pandemic, of course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgyq98zErms Under the conditions described above, the contracted company completed the acceptance and certification of its cockpit upgrade on July 11. VL-60 Ace Deck based on the Garmin 5000 set. This is also the equipment that will be installed in the nine (later twelve) Austrian aircraft. (See a very detailed portrait in the issue #127 of the magazine HeliOpsmagazine, pages 41 to 56). The three additional ex-Jordanian S-70s (only Austria and Jordan have or had a total of 17 UH-60Ls with a “glass cockpit”) are due to join the fleet from 2021 – again subject to further Covid-19 development. Incidentally, Ace Aeronautics has also published details on the individual features of the VL-60 in several videos in recent weeks and months (see below and above). Ace Aeronautics has also been very active in recent weeks independently of its cooperation with the Austrian Armed Forces: in Guntersville, the company completed a new paint shop in February, for which slots will not be available again until October.
And in another business segment, the company reported a “Multiple Award Schedule Contract” from the USGSA (US General Services Administration) as recently as September 18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV7IUi6EUD0
