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Originally published on 07/29/2002
FARNBOROUGH, ENGLAND -- I've been going to giant technology tradeshows for years: Comdex, CES, CeBit, Computex, others. But a major air show, like the Farnborough International Airshow, is a whole different experience. Looking at the massive Airbus 340-600, the new jumbo that dominated the outdoor display here, I realized that everything I've covered for the past 14 years could fit in the cargo hold of this one plane. [Click for picture.]
Fast Facts:
Mason Electric
www.mason-electric.com |
| President |
Kent Byington. Previously at Korry Electronics (another subsidiary of Esterline, Mason's parent company)
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| HQ |
San Fernando, CA
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| Employees |
160
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| Market |
Flight controls
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| Funding |
A division of Esterline (NYSE: ESL)
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| Profitable? |
Yes
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I mean that figuratively. There is so much engineering, testing, and financial wheedling -- and so many lives at stake -- in aerospace, that Microsoft's entire Windows development program starts to look like a bug on a cockpit windshield. And you won’t see government diplomats ogling keyboards at Comdex the way I saw generals caressing control sticks at Farnborough.
At the air show, I talked with people from several small companies, including the not-atypical Mason Electric, which recently released its "PlayStation control grip" (not the official name) for targeting equipment. Unlike Mason's other 1,400 typically shaped control sticks and yokes, this device looks like a control pad for a computer game -- a shape young aviators are presumably already used to. [Click for picture.]
Mason Electric, now a division of Esterline, is a 25-year-old company with well-entrenched competitors. Like many aviation contractors, it's managed to weather rough markets better than, say, former telecomm powerhouses WorldCom and Global Crossing.
Sure, aviation contractors have advantages; for example, their customers often fund product development (especially for military products). But that doesn't mean they have it easy: these firms must survive wars, currency crises, and losing key customers during regime changes.
In contrast, it embarrasses me that so many technology companies were taken down so quickly by simple greed and wishful tactics. Aviation contractors aren't, as a class, saints, but when it comes to understanding product development, sales, and financial strategies, they sure are smarter.
- Rafe Needleman
email: rafe-needleman@catchoday.com
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