Flightcell International—A Kiwi Success Story

By Rob Neil.

New Zealand and New Zealanders have a history of success in business and technology that is out of all proportion to the country’s tiny population. In the last ten years, the same Kiwi “can-do” attitude that gave the world the jet boat has given birth to a simple yet revolutionary line of aviation communication technology that is finding its way into aircraft all over the world. Rob Neil reports on the Nelson-based company, Flightcell International.

Flightcell International is a name that is rapidly becoming synonymous with aviation communications excellence, and increasingly familiar to those that seek such excellence in reliable, efficient communications systems—from military Special Forces to high-tech helicopter rescue organisations and the most demanding and fastidious of private aircraft owners around the world.

Beginning in 1996, the Nelson, New Zealand-based company was initially known simply as Flightcell New Zealand and it began from a unique idea that produced a uniquely desirable product.

Flightcell New Zealand began as a one-man operation in the person of current CEO, John Wyllie. John—then a commercial pilot and flight instructor—decided to build himself a simple interface that would allow him to connect and use his cell phone through his headset while flying. After discussing his idea with a friend who knew a thing or two about electronics, John created his first hand-built portable cell phone/headset interface.

As soon as another friend saw it, he asked John, “Can you make me one too…no, on second thoughts, make me ten—I want to give them to my mates!” The first devices may have been rather rudimentary—just a single headset/cell phone interface—but they worked…very well! Flightcell New Zealand was about to be born!

Like all good ideas whose time has come, there was no looking back once John had decided to begin commercial manufacture and Flightcell New Zealand was registered in 1998. From the very earliest days, even with the earliest products, Flightcell’s foundation has been its insistence on building the highest quality products possible and ensuring customer satisfaction. As the company has grown—initially as a New Zealand company and later internationally—this insistence has remained a core company value.

Flightcell’s first product—the single portable phone/headset interface—was simply called the Flightcell. The Flightcell was designed to integrate a Motorola cell phone with a David Clark headset, and such a simple pairing was not difficult. However, John soon discovered when he attempted to produce a “universal” interface, that there were no “standard” specifications or requirements for aviation headsets—or for cell phones. It was Flightcell’s ability to overcome the great disparity between the plethora of different combinations of headsets and cell phones that made it such a successful product.

This ability to allow any combination of communication devices to integrate with an aircraft’s intercom system remains one of the most beneficial features of all of Flightcell’s products. The incorporation of a microprocessor into the device that began as the simple Flightcell resulted in a new product—a much-improved portable communications hub—that the company called the Flightcell Pro.

By 2000, just two years after Flightcell New Zealand was registered as a company, John could see that it was becoming essential to look far beyond New Zealand and he registered the name of Flightcell International in order to separate the retail arm within New Zealand (Flightcell NZ, which had grown to become an aviation accessory retailer as well as producer of Flightcell Pro) and the manufacturing arm, Flightcell International that would build and market Flightcell products internationally.

Flightcell was initially ahead of its time compared to many overseas countries, as there were many false beliefs outside New Zealand about cell phone use in aircraft. New Zealand’s agricultural aviation operators were particularly helpful to Flightcell in refining its products in preparation for the time when they would become widely accepted internationally. Agricultural operators—frequently “one-man-bands”—needed to have the “office” with them wherever they went, and the ability to integrate a cell phone within a cockpit was not a luxury, it was a necessity—potentially the difference between economic failure or survival. For such operators, Flightcell Pro introduced an entirely new way of working—more efficiently, more cost effectively—and more easily!

Eventually, as cell phones became accepted more widely, people began appreciating the value of the Flightcell products to integrate them into their aircraft. By 2004, Flightcell products were in use in over 40 countries—a year later, more than 60!

Flightcell’s market has continued to expand consistently, but it was in 2003 that the company had its biggest break—an American military pilot “discovered” the Flightcell Pro on the Internet and purchased the unit privately to use in the C130 he flew in the US.

So impressed was the officer concerned that he purchased five further Flightcell Pro devices for use in other aircraft in his unit. Before long, the Flightcell Pro became the subject of an official trial for consideration as standard equipment fit for a number of US Air Force aircraft. The trial—in which Flightcell competed against some major US electronics “giants”—resulted in Flightcell’s product being chosen ahead of all its competitors.

A further presentation to the US military, in which it was demonstrated that the Flightcell Pro would allow aircrews to use Iridium satellite phones in the high-noise environment of service aircraft, impressed the “top brass” and resulted in a (previously unequalled) order for 309 Flightcell Pros “to be delivered within six weeks”. Within two weeks, this order was increased by a further 600 units.

Since those initial orders—which Flightcell filled in a fraction of the time normally expected by the military of its suppliers—other orders have continued to come in to equip more and more military aircraft.

Characteristically of Flightcell, a great deal of the money from these successful sales was channelled directly back into research and development in order to improve existing products and develop new ones—the company typically re-invests as much as 50% of its profits into R & D.

Although it has always been a Flightcell imperative to utilise quality components and produce a high quality product, the vital need to provide the most reliable product possible for its military customers means that the company is committed to using only the very best components available in the world. Civilian users of Flightcell products benefit directly from this in that Flightcell does not make two different “grades” of products—all are made to the same ultimate high military standard.

This dedication to the “very best” componentry continues to differentiate Flightcell from ostensible competitors; while other companies produce purportedly “similar” products, none produce anything capable of matching either Flightcell’s products’ overall capabilities, or the quality of their components or construction.

Indicative of the degree to which Flightcell strives to excel, its most basic product (“Flightcell-2-Go”)—designed for budget-conscious private pilots with limited requirements who need only the simplest interface “hub” for their on-board communications—comprises no less than 180 separate electronic components in order to ensure complete universal compatibility between the multitude of different communications systems available. Flightcell’s electronics engineers have determined this to be the minimum number of components required to fulfil all of its functions— properly! Its nearest “competitor” in the same market contains only five components!

In the case of Flightcell-2-Go, what Flightcell has found is that customers of competing products eventually turn to them to provide a product that will do what its competitors promise—but fail—to deliver.

In 2005, in response to specific requests from the military, and taking advantage of the results of their extensive research and development, Flightcell began producing an entirely new and revolutionary product. Whereas the Flightcell Pro was initially developed as a completely portable device, in military service, it was invariably utilised in what amounted to permanent installation. As a result, the military requested Flightcell to produce an installed central “hub” that would still allow portability of accessory components such as radios, cell phones and satellite phones.

The result is the Flightcell DZM—a unique and priceless tool for aircraft operators that incorporates intelligent, user-programmable flight tracking (via cell phone or satellite phone) in an installed communications “hub” within the aircraft that still allows portable devices to remain portable, while also permitting various (user-programmable) data transfer from the aircraft—all simultaneously.

With its DZM, Flightcell has retained a huge technological lead over any potential competitor. The DZM, which, complete with its keypad and LCD display, fits into a standard DZUS rail measuring only 2.25” by 5.75”, is a tiny device weighing only 500 grams (17 oz) and requires no additional components or “black boxes” to be installed in an airframe—just simple wiring between the DZM and the cell phone, satellite phone and GPS aerials.

Particularly suitable for helicopter operators by virtue of its light weight, limited size, and its unrivalled flight tracking capability, the DZM adds a welcome safety factor that has seen it increasingly adopted by rescue organisations in their aircraft.

The DZM is an example of what Flightcell is, and has always been, about—responsiveness to customers’ needs and producing the highest quality product that it is possible to produce. Flightcell prides itself that its customers are not just getting a piece of hardware when they purchase a Flightcell product—they are getting a commitment to service and a guarantee of satisfaction that is second to none.

The range of products, accessories and systems available through Flightcell’s retail arm fits well with Flightcell’s commitment to quality, with brands such as Bose featuring high on the list.

John Wyllie doesn’t hide the fact that there have been technical issues with early versions of some Flightcell products. However, he takes the greatest of pride in the fact that in the ten years Flightcell has been operating, he has had to write only three refund checks to customers and that in every other case, he and his staff have been able to resolve every issue to his customers’ satisfaction.