Tiger Aircraft

Tiger Aircraft

Industry	Aerospace
Fate	bankrupt
Successor	True Flight Aerospace
Founded	1999
Defunct	2006
Headquarters	Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States
Key people	President and Chief Operating Officer N. Gene Criss
Products	AG-5B Tiger

Tiger Aircraft LLC was an American aircraft manufacturer from 1999 to 2006 based in Martinsburg, West Virginia, United States.

History

The company was established in 1999 with the aim of returning the AG-5B Tiger to production. Tiger Aircraft followed in the footsteps of Grumman American, Gulfstream American and American General Aviation Corporation in manufacturing the Tiger.

Tiger Aircraft ceased operations by November 2006 and filed for bankruptcy in January 2007.^[1]

Financial difficulties

Tiger Aircraft was headed by President and Chief Operating Officer N. Gene Criss between August 25th, 2003 and early August 2006. Criss was fired by the board for allegedly selling the assets of the company to Network Hosts without authority. The four companies that owned Tiger Aircraft applied to a West Virginia Circuit Court at that time for a restraining order to prevent further sales and also to declare the previous deals invalid.^[2]

By the middle of 2006 Tiger Aircraft was experiencing financial problems, production of AG-5Bs had been halted and production workers laid off. ^[3] By November 2006 the company employed only two workers and owed $115,000 in back taxes to the municipality.^[4] On November 30th, 2006 it was announced that the Tiger Aircraft buildings were for sale.^[5] Tiger Aircraft filed for bankruptcy in January 2007.^[1]

Products

Tiger Aircraft received FAA Part 23 certification for the AG-5B in 2001 and its production certificate in 2002. 51 AG-5B Tigers were produced between 2001 and 2006, with only three being completed in 2006.^[6] The last few aircraft were delivered with Garmin G1000 avionics.^{[citation needed]}

Asset acquisition by True Flight Aerospace

The Federal Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of Tiger Aircraft assets to True Flight Holdings LLC, now operating as True Flight Aerospace ^[7], on August 2, 2007. The assets included aircraft type certificates for the former Grumman American light aircraft AA-1 family ^[8] and AA-5 family ^[9], tooling, aircraft building equipment, intellectual property rights, inventories of existing parts and raw materials.^[10]

In November 2007 True Flight announced plans to construct a new production facility at the Valdosta, Georgia Airport and commence production of parts first.^[11] The company displayed at Sun 'n Fun 2008^[12] and indicated that they would produce the AG-5B Tiger first. The company indicated that it will later expand the line of aircraft models available.^[13][14]

In early 2009 the company decided to move to an existing vacant production facility in Quitman, Georgia, rather than proceed with constructing new facilities at Valdosta. This decision was prompted by the on-going economic situation, delays imposed by the Federal Aviation Administration as part of a runway extension at Valdosta and an attractive offer to relocate from the Quitman municipal government. At Sun 'n Fun 2009 in April the company announced that it expected to start production of AG-5Bs by mid-summer 2009. True Flight exhibited at AirVenture 2009 in July. At Sun 'n Fun in April 2010 the company gave an update on progress, although production had still not commenced at that time.^[15][16][17]

Aircraft by date

• Tiger Aircraft AG-5B Tiger (2001)

References

1. ^ ^{a b} January 21, 2007 $1 Million Debt Too Much For Aircraft Manufacturer? By Russ Niles, Contributing Editor
2. ^ AvWeb Article August 21, 2006 More Trouble At Tiger
3. ^ Avweb Article May 31, 2006 Tiger Aircraft Seeking Cash By Mary Grady , Newswriter, Editor
4. ^ Avweb Article November 13, 2006 Tiger On The Ropes?
5. ^ Martinsburg Journal- News Article (article no longer available)
6. ^ Martinsburg Journal-News Article (article no longer available)
7. ^ True Flight Aerospace (November 2007). "True Flight Aerospace". http://www.trueflightaerospace.com/. Retrieved 2008-06-13. 
8. ^ A11EA Type Certificate
9. ^ A16EA Type Certificate
10. ^ AvWeb Article August 5, 2007 Georgia Firm Buys Tiger Type Certificate By Russ Niles, Contributing Editor, accessed 23 September 2007
11. ^ True Flight (November 1, 2007). "Renowned small aircraft manufacturer to locate in Valdosta". http://www.trueflightaerospace.com/. Retrieved 2007-11-03. 
12. ^ American Yankee Association (April 2008). "AYA Forum Tent Meeting at Sun n’Fun". http://www.aya.org/s/358/aya.aspx?sid=358&gid=1&pgid=1078. Retrieved 2008-07-02. 
13. ^ An Open Letter to the AYA By Kevin Lancaster, The American Star, The Official Publication of the American Yankee Association, Volume XXXII Number 5, September/October 2007 pg 4
14. ^ American Yankee Association Homepage lead story accessed 19 September 2007
15. ^ American Yankee Association (July 2009). "The American Star Vol XXXIV Number 4 July/August 2009 page 5". http://www.clubhouse.aya.org/s/358/file_lib/1/81/ja09small_633811962475613536.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
16. ^ American Yankee Association (September 2009). "The American Star Vol XXXIV Number 5 July/August 2009 page 5 "TrueFlight at Oshkosh" by Roscoe Rosché, Regional Director". http://www.clubhouse.aya.org/s/358/file_lib/1/81/so09small_633867375755851051.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-21. 
17. ^ American Yankee Association (April 2010). "AYA FORUM TENT MEETING AT SUN N’FUN, 2010". http://www.aya.org/s/358/aya.aspx?sid=358&gid=1&pgid=1078. Retrieved 2 April 2011. 

External links

• www.tigeraircraft.com Former location of Tiger Aircraft Corporate website
• Tiger Aircraft website archives on Internet Archive
• True Flight website