Volocopter acquires DG Flugzeugbau

Neal Pfeiffer

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Jul 6, 2021, 9:32:04 AM7/6/21

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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-aviation-volocopter/air-taxi-startup-volocopter-gains-key-production-certification-idUSKCN2EC0UD

Any information on how this will impact the sailplane business? How will the company structure (management and work) change with this additional emphasis area?

Martin Gregorie

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Jul 6, 2021, 10:41:12 AM7/6/21

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On Tue, 06 Jul 2021 06:32:02 -0700, Neal Pfeiffer wrote:

> https://www.reuters.com/article/us-aviation-volocopter/air-taxi-startup-

volocopter-gains-key-production-certification-idUSKCN2EC0UD
>
> Any information on how this will impact the sailplane business? How
> will the company structure (management and work) change with this
> additional emphasis area?

Volocopter say that they will continue to honor existing sailplane
production contracts. The full announcement is here:

https://www.volocopter.com/newsroom/volocopter-secures-production-
organisation-approval/

... and here's the corresponding DG announcement:

https://www.dg-flugzeugbau.de/en/dg-aircraft-news/dg-weichen-zukunft/19508

--
Martin | martin at
Gregorie | gregorie dot org

2G

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Jul 8, 2021, 2:40:52 PM7/8/21

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That press release says "they will continue developing and maintaining aircraft." Exactly what gliders is DG developing? I don't know of any. I suspect that all engineering resources have been redirected to the Volocopter products.

Tom

nospa...@efbe.prima.de

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Jul 8, 2021, 3:30:03 PM7/8/21

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Am 08.07.21 um 20:40 schrieb 2G:

Try clicking on the word AIRCRAFT above the article to find out about DG
products...

>
> Tom
>

2G

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Jul 8, 2021, 4:32:32 PM7/8/21

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I did and it only lists their existing (aging) glider products - there are no NEW gliders in development, quite unlike the other companies. It is pretty clear that they are devoting engineering resources to Volocopter products.

Tom

Nick Hill

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Jul 9, 2021, 12:14:07 PM7/9/21

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On 08/07/2021 21:32, 2G wrote:

>>>
> I did and it only lists their existing (aging) glider products - there are no NEW gliders in development, quite unlike the other companies. It is pretty clear that they are devoting engineering resources to Volocopter products.

I'm not sure the evidence entirely suggests that.

Since the older Glasser-Dirks went into administration 20+years ago and
was resurrected by KF Weber the DG Group diversified into various
different units supporting a range of activities including glider sales
and development, a significant maintenance organisation and involvement
in a range of non gliding composite design and production activities.
(there used to be more on the web about this but the new revamped
website is mostly covering the here and now) This no doubt meant it was
financially more secure than as just a glider manufacturer.

Time will show how things work out but with the latest developments
Volocopter gain the EASA accreditations they need and this keeps the
whole group diversified in some manner. In that sense the glider
activities with all the existing staff remaining in place with DG
Aviation as part of the wider DG Flugzeugbau holding could be seen as a
continuation of what has already been happening over the last decade.
Volocopter apparently already had 300 employees prior to this new
development.

Re developments then DG was never about the latest cutting edge
competition performance gliders and yes the DG-1000 was the last all new
design. However in recent years they have produced various developments
such as FES to the LS8 and other tweaks to the LS8, the first glider
manufacturer to announce a two seater FES option and with the Neo
winglet range they have provided options for owners of many exiting
gliders of varying ages to add a new lease of life to their existing
gliders.

Nick Hill

Tony

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Jul 10, 2021, 6:24:03 PM7/10/21

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Are they no longer the ones providing support for the LS-3,4, etc.?

2G

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Jul 12, 2021, 12:07:27 AM7/12/21

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Nick, you make my case for me: DG hasn't developed a new glider since the DG1000 - "tweaks" don't count. And I know of no new glider in development, perhaps you do - if so, say so.

Tom

Nick Hill

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Jul 12, 2021, 4:23:08 AM7/12/21

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On 10/07/2021 23:24, Tony wrote:

>>
>> Nick Hill
> Are they no longer the ones providing support for the LS-3,4, etc.?
>

Yes they are still providing that support

--

Nick Hill

kinsell

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Jul 13, 2021, 8:35:42 PM7/13/21

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Well, they're still collecting money on support contracts.

There are uncounted dozens of companies jumping into the flying car/taxi
market, getting many billions from naive investors who think there's a
huge market. It's unlikely that most of them will ever be commercially
viable.

DG is now owned by a company that wanted to make EASA happy, and
probably has no particular interest in the glider market. I doubt that
it bodes well for their glider customers, or employees of the company.
Big acquisitions like this seldom do.

-Dave