Tamarack, Cessna solidify partnership

SANDPOINT — Local company Tamarack Aerospace has solidified a partnership with one of the biggest names in aviation: Cessna Aircraft.

The freshly-inked deal will result in Cessna marketing and selling Tamarack’s signature active winglet, as well as installing the technology on their line of Citation jets. It’s yet another big development for the young aerospace company, which many local economic advocates say has huge growth potential in the next few years.

“All in all, we’re super excited about this news, and I hope it’s the first of many partnerships to come for Tamarack,” said Sandpoint city planner Jeremy Grimm.

Cessna and Tamarack officials announced the partnership at the National Business Aviation Association convention in Las Vegas this weekend, according to company representatives. For Tamarack, the importance of full support from an industry leader like Cessna cannot be understated, Tamarack founder Nick Guida said. The cooperation between Tamarack and Cessna engineers should also help speed the process of active winglet certification.

“This endorsement means great things for the future of the company,” Guida said.   

The relationship between Cessna and Tamarack has grown steadily over the past few years. It began three years ago when Cessna representatives dropped by the Tamarack booth at the 2011 NBAA convention. Subsequent meetings solidified Cessna’s interest in the technology, and before long, the company’s engineers were exchanging data on a regular basis. Tamarack then made a splash when representatives flew their Cessna test jet equipped with winglets to the 2012 NBAA convention.  

The Cessna Citation CJ1 jet has been an instrumental part of Tamarack’s testing process and was the star of the show during an unofficially record-breaking flight this summer. Equipped with Tamarack’s active winglets, the Citation CJ1 flew from Sandpoint to White Plains, N.Y., in six hours and 16 minutes, landing with 472 pounds of fuel reserves. That kind of fuel efficiency for an a jet of that size is unheard of, Guida said.

That’s exactly why so many people are so excited about Tamarack’s potential, Grimm said. In an era of quickly rising fuel costs, planes equipped with active winglets stand to save their owners a lot of money. Meanwhile, the winglets also effectively increase the amount of cargo a plane can carry and the range it can travel, which means individuals in the market for a jet could potentially save hundreds of thousands of dollars by upgrading a smaller model with active winglets.

Winglets have long been a staple of aerospace engineering. The devices work by artificially increasing the aspect ratio of the wing, improving lift. However, more lift can often be a disadvantage during turbulence or other specific flight conditions. Tamarack’s technology is able to negate that extra lift when it’s not needed, making winglets a no-downside enhancement to any aircraft, according to company representatives.

With Tamarack on track to earn certification, begin production and deliver orders by early 2015, Guida has special gratitude for community support throughout the process. The Sandpoint Urban Renewal Agency has agreed to help fund essential airport infrastructure improvements, while city and county officials have helped the company navigate its early start-up period.

“The whole community has been supporting us from the very beginning,” Guida said.