Changing competitive landscape in piston GA aircraft and engines. By Mike Busch I just returned from EAA AirVenture 2015 in Oshkosh, where aviation firms traditionally make major announcements. This year was no exception. One of the most significant announcements to me (as an aircraft owner and maintenance professional) was the one by Continental Motors that they had acquired the assets of Danbury AeroSpace of San Antonio, Texas.  “Danbury who?” you might ask. Actually, Danbury is a major supplier of piston aircraft engine components and experimental engines sold under the Engine Components International (ECi) and Titan brand names. ECi and Titan Engines Inc. are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Danbury. I found the Continental/Danbury announcement significant because it will result in major changes to the competitive landscape in the piston aircraft engine market. In my view, these changes will be excellent news for some aircraft owners and rather bad news for others. Some background To put this in perspective, we need to go back four decades to a time when two Texas-based companies—Superior Air Parts (SAP) and Engine Components Inc. (ECi)—first obtained FAA Parts Manufacturer Approvals (PMAs) to produce replacement parts for Continental and Lycoming engines. Prior to that time, Continental and Lycoming […]