Erickson Group and Wagner Aeronautical Form Joint Venture; Firm to Convert Boeing 757 Aircraft to Cargo Configuration.

Business/Technology Editors

BEAVERTON, Ore.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 2001

Precision Conversions, LLC announced today, it is developing a Supplemental Type Certificate for a cargo conversion for the Boeing 757 aircraft. The Certification Plan is currently under review by the FAA. The financing to complete the project is in place and the company expects to have a conversion kit available by early 2003. Precision Conversions is a joint venture between Erickson Group, Ltd. of Portland, Oregon and Wagner Aeronautical, Inc. of Escondido, California.

Steven J. Thomas, President of Precision Conversions, stated, "The 757 aircraft provides an ideal platform for conversion to freighter configuration. Its performance, reliability and cost all lend themselves to its new role. We will provide a competitive product to the OEM and we are very confident that the marketplace will welcome this STC."

Bill Wagner, Vice President of Engineering of Precision Conversions, stated, "The structural commonality between the 757 and the 727 means that our experience in developing a successful STC for the 727-200 freighter conversion gives us a very significant advantage in both time to market and credibility with the regulatory authorities."

Precision Conversions engaged SH&E Inc., the New York based aviation consulting firm, to evaluate the potential market for 757-200 freighters. SH&E's findings indicate that aircraft retirements and traffic growth create a projected market for 757-200 conversions in the range of 300-360 aircraft by 2020. SH&E will continue to advise the company on an ongoing basis.

Erickson formerly owned and operated Erickson Air-Crane Co. The heavy lift helicopter company expanded from 4 Sikorsky Skycranes in 1971 to 14 at the time the company was sold in 1997. During this time Erickson obtained multiple STC's for the airframe, began overhauling engines, components, rotor blades and manufacturing parts. This integration cumulated in 1992 when Erickson acquired the Type Certificate for the Skycrane from Sikorsky Aircraft.

Wagner Aeronautical, Inc., founded in 1993, is a diversified aerospace engineering company providing complete support for the fixed wing and rotorcraft industries. Engineering support includes design, structural, fatigue, and damage tolerance analysis, testing and aircraft certification. While the main focus was initially rotorcraft, emphasis quickly turned to cargo conversions. Wagner was the prime engineering group on a conversion program for the Boeing 727 and a subcontractor for a conversion program on the 747. In addition, Wagner has been involved in several re-certification and continued airworthiness projects on converted 727 and 737 aircraft.