Strong Enterprises Purchased

Aviation Safety Resources (ASR) has reached an agreement to acquire parachute company Strong Enterprises, ASR announced at the Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo on Tuesday. Strong, which designs, engineers, tests and manufactures parachute systems, has customers in the general aviation and military segments. The acquisition is effective immediately.

https://www.avweb.com/flight-safety/asr-acquires-strong-enterprises/?MailingID=590&utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Sun++N+Fun+Opens+New+Airshow+Command+Center%2C+Tecnam+Shows+Off+P2012+Traveler&utm_campaign=Sun++N+Fun+Opens+New+Airshow+Command+Center%2C+Tecnam+Shows+Off+P2012+Traveler+-+Thursday%2C+April+15%2C+2021

First thought: This is Bill Booth buying Strong in disguise

apart from that: what does that mean for TI's who still prefer Dual Hawks or TNT's?

https://www.aviationsafetyresources.com/about-us

Odd company.

Basically there is 60+ years of a few guys fiddling around with aircraft recovery parachute system designs on and off, and getting a few patents, but no product produced or marketed.  Their 'thing' was a 3-unit aircraft recovery chute that blows the wings off and has each wing and the fuselage descend under a separate parachute. (Umm..... that's different.)

Then in 2018 they hire an ex CEO from BRS, well known for their recovery parachutes. A year later: 

Quote

ASR completed a $750K series A investment and secures strategic partnerships with Task Aerospace, a leading provider of ejection seat and egress system products and Precision Aerodynamics , a leading parachute canopy design and production firm, to deliver a range in integrated safety solutions to the aerospace, defense and UAM markets.

[Emphasis mine]

Then recently they started to get a few awards or development contracts:

Quote

September 2019 - Winner of Pitch@Revolution Competition
December 2019 - Phase 1 USAF “Small Business Innovation Research” contract.
October 2020 - ISO 9001:2015 Quality Certification
December 2020 - Phase 1 USAF “Advanced Extreme Rapid Deployment Emergency Whole Airframe Recovery Parachute System for Urban Air Mobility” contract.
March 2021 - ASR Receives 2020 Kentucky SBDC Pacesetter Award

So somehow they have gotten a real team together and found a little funding. They seem to have a line of recovery parachutes for ultralights etc but I'm not sure if they are really out there in the market yet?? 

The 'big idea' they seem to have now is to design recovery parachutes for all the eVTOL / Urban Air Mobility vehicles that are being designed in the dozens these days.

Will be interesting to see how the company deals with Strong: 
"Great, we acquired a whole lot of parachute system production knowledge, and they actually have the experience of selling bunch of stuff to a variety of clients!", but also,
"So, what's with this sport parachuting and tandem stuff -- you know, where people tried to sue the original company to oblivion even if some accident had nothing to do with the product other than that some idiot used it -- How does this fit in with our future plans at all??"

But I don't know much about ASR or the recent ups and downs of Strong...  so if someone has more accurate knowledge, let us know...

36 minutes ago, pchapman said:

"So, what's with this sport parachuting and tandem stuff -

Sport parachuting equipment manufacturing seems to be a fringe industry with all the "larger" players run and owned by people with at least some passion for skydiving. Like, Ted Strong was for instance. It is not hard to predict this will result in their exit from the sport market completely.

I’m pretty sure Strong has a history of military and aerospace design/manufacturing that they want to leverage for contracting purposes.

On 9/17/2021 at 9:32 PM, BMAC615 said:

I’m pretty sure Strong has a history of military and aerospace design/manufacturing that they want to leverage for contracting purposes.

I think that these contacts where based on that very special personal bond that forms between longtime professional players. As often encountered: new guy buys old company, longtime partners go with the blink of an eye... 

10 hours ago, feuergnom said:

I think that these contacts where based on that very special personal bond that forms between longtime professional players. As often encountered: new guy buys old company, longtime partners go with the blink of an eye... 

Hi feuergnom,

I worked in US federal gov't. contracting for 30 yrs.  A 'special bond' IMO has nothing to do with it.

The only thing we ever looked at was Capability & Capacity.

Capability - Can they actually perform on the contract; do they have the know-how

Capacity - Do they have the capacity ( facilities, personnel, equipment, etc ) to complete the contract on time.

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  If the contract is for R & D, then forget all of the above.  That is an entire different animal.  One example of this would be the 'jump' where Ted Strong was killed; 4 guys in a quad out of the rear hatch on a cargo plane.

36 minutes ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Hi feuergnom,

I worked in US federal gov't. contracting for 30 yrs.  A 'special bond' IMO has nothing to do with it.

The only thing we ever looked at was Capability & Capacity.

Capability - Can they actually perform on the contract; do they have the know-how

Capacity - Do they have the capacity ( facilities, personnel, equipment, etc ) to complete the contract on time.

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  If the contract is for R & D, then forget all of the above.  That is an entire different animal.  One example of this would be the 'jump' where Ted Strong was killed; 4 guys in a quad out of the rear hatch on a cargo plane.

 

 

 

There you have your answer: capability

And I would also add a visionary mind capable and able to make things happen

1 hour ago, feuergnom said:

There you have your answer: capability

And I would also add a visionary mind capable and able to make things happen

Hi feuergnom,

OK, I'm game:  Who would that be?

Jerry Baumchen