In these situations, the benefits outweigh the somewhat reduced efficiency (especially marked at low forward speeds) caused by the increased wetted surface and higher rotational speeds than an open propeller.
Bombardier
Bombardier Inc. is a Canadian company, founded by Joseph-Armand Bombardier as L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée in 1942, at Valcourt in the Eastern Townships, Quebec. It is a large manufacturer of regional aircraft, business jets, rail transportation equipment, recreational equipment and provider of financial services. Its headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
History
Joseph-Armand Bombardier was a mechanic who dreamed of building a vehicle that could 'float on snow'. In 1937, the first snowmobile was made in his small repair shop in Valcourt, Quebec.
Joseph-Armand Bombardier's breakthrough came in the mid-1930s when he developed a drive system that would revolutionise travel in snow and swamp. In 1937, Armand sold 12 snowmobiles—named the B7—and in 1942 opened the company l'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée.
The first snowmobiles were large, multi-passenger vehicles designed to help people get around during the long winter months. Snowmobiles were used in rural Quebec to take children to school, to carry freight, to deliver mail, and as ambulances. His invention served a very real necessity and soon business was booming. In 1941, Armand opened a large new factory in Valcourt. Then a major setback hit the growing business: the Second World War was well underway and the Canadian government issued wartime rationing regulations. Bombardier customers had to prove that snowmobiles were essential to their livelihood in order to buy one. To keep his business going, Armand switched gears and developed vehicles for the military. After the war, Armand experienced another setback in his snowmobile business. In 1948 the Quebec government passed a law requiring all highways and local roads to be cleared of snow; Bombardier's sales fell by nearly half in one year. Armand decided to diversify his business and make all-terrain vehicles for the mining, oil, and forestry industries.
Armand dreamt of developing a fast, lightweight snowmobile (the Ski-doo) that could carry one or two people. In the early 1950s, Armand set aside his dream to focus on developing his company's other tracked vehicles. But by the end of the decade, smaller, more efficient engines had been developed and were starting to come on the market. Armand resumed his efforts to build a 'miniature' snowmobile. He worked alongside his eldest son Germain, who shared his father's mechanical talents. Armand and Germain developed several prototypes of the lightweight snowmobile and finally the first Ski-Doo went on sale in 1959.
The Ski-Doo was originally called the Ski-Dog because Bombardier meant it to be a practical vehicle to replace the dogsled for hunters and trappers. But the public soon discovered the speedy vehicles that can zoom over snow were a lot of fun. Suddenly a new winter sport was born, centred in Quebec. In the first year, Bombardier sold 225 Ski-Doos; four years later, 8,210 were sold. But Armand was reluctant to focus too much on the Ski-Doo and move resources away from his all-terrain vehicles. He vividly remembered his earlier business setbacks that forced him to diversify. Armand slowed down promotion of Ski-Doo to prevent it from dominating the other products but still dominate the entire snowmobile industry. The snowmobilies produced were is exceptional quality and performance unlike the Polaris and Arctic Cat brand of motosleds.
The sport has grown over the years from it's simple beginings to include extreme hill climbing, grass drag racing, oval track racing, snow cross and racing on water.
On February 18, 1964, J. Armand Bombardier died of cancer at age 56. He left behind a thriving business, but also one that had been focused on one person. Armand dominated his company, overseeing all areas of operation. He controlled the small research department, making all the drawings himself. By the time of his death sales of the company had reached C$20 million, which is the equivalent of C$160 million in 2004 dollars. The younger generation took over, led by Armand's sons and sons-in-law. The young team reorganized and decentralized the company, adopting modern business tactics. The company adopted the latest technological innovation—the computer—to handle inventory, accounts, and billing. Distribution networks were improved and increased, and an incentive program was developed for sales staff.
In 1967, L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée was renamed Bombardier Limited and on January 23, 1969 the company became public following listing on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges.
Aviation
Under the management of Laurent Beaudoin, Bombardier's son-in-law, the company took over the Canadian government-owned Canadair aircraft manufacturing company after it had recorded the largest corporate loss in Canadian business history to form Bombardier Aerospace. To this was added de Havilland Canada from Boeing and the bankrupt Short Brothers and Lear Jet. The aerospace arm now accounts for over half of the company's revenue and is reportedly the third-largest civil aircraft manufacturer in the world behind the giants Boeing and Airbus.
Railway technology
In 1970, Bombardier acquired the Viennese company Lohner-Rotax, a manufacturer of snowmobile engines and tramways, and thus became involved in rail business. This section started to grow important in the mid-1990s in the renaissance of tramways or 'light-rail transit'. Bombardier acquired the assets and designs of American Locomotive Company/Montreal Locomotive Works, who continued in the locomotive business until 1985. In 2001, they acquired Adtranz, who had developed the Class 170 Turbostar and Class 357/375/376/377 Electrostar trains which are widely used throughout Britain. They also built the Croydon Tramlink and Nottingham Express Transit trams and parts of Alstom's Eurostar trains. They are one of the companies which took over British Rail's R&D facilities after privatisation (the remainder largely being absorbed into AEA Technology and Alstom). They were part of a major consortium in the construction of the Eurotunnel railway cars, and also built new subway trains for a wide range of customers including the Toronto Transit Commission, the Commission de transport de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal, and the New York City Transit Authority (R62A, R142), and developed the Las Vegas Monorail system.
Bombardier is a UK Notified Body, under The Railways (Interoperability) (Notified Bodies) Regulations 2000, in one TSI area: rolling stock.
Bombardier Transportation also leads the development and production of the Acela Express train in a 75%–25% arrangement with Alstom. The train runs between Boston, Massachusetts, New York, New York, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC. Bombardier provided carbody design and tilting mechanisms from its LRC ("Light Rapid Comfortable") line of passenger trainsets, and integrated a variant of Alstom's TGV propulsion system. This is the first high-speed rail line in North America, running at a top speed of 240 km/h (150 mi/h). To meet U.S. government "Buy American" regulations, final assembly of these trains was performed at Bombardier's U.S. rail car assembly facility in Barre, Vermont. Bombardier also provided seller-arranged financing to allow Amtrak to lease the trainsets rather than purchasing them outright as the railroad had previously done.
In 2001 Bombardier Transportation acquired Adtranz, making it the second largest manufacturer of railway rolling stock in the world. Depending on how one defines industrial activities, it is sometimes considered the largest in the world in this category.
Other
Bombardier was, until recently, a major Canadian defence contractor. With the latest restructuring the company sold off nearly all of its military related work in Canada. Military Aviation Services was sold to Spar Aerospace and land based defence products made by Urban Transportation Development Corporation ceased operations as Bombardier moved away from non-aviation defence products.
In 2003 it spun off as a separate company the Bombardier Recreational Products division, whose snowcats and snowmobiles had been the origin of the company. Bombardier Recreational Products as also become well-known for their Sea-Doo personal water craft division.
Criticism
Bombardier has been criticised in Canada and abroad over the subsidies it receives from various levels of government. They have been described as corporate welfare and accused of violating free trade agreements, especially by Brazil. Canada and Bombardier have countered by citing Brazil's direct and indirect subsidies to Embraer, its own major aircraft manufacturer and one of Bombardier's principal competitors in the regional jet market.
The government of Canada provided a large interest rate subsidy for the financing that made possible Bombardier's sale of subway trains to the New York City Subway. Some Canadians object to such amounts of money being given to a private for-profit company, but the government argues that the subsidies create many jobs. Recently Bombardier opened an engineering design agreement with an Indian company which subsidy critics argue may result in a loss of jobs in Canada.
Bombardier's reputation may have been tarnished in the western United States by its association with the privately-funded Las Vegas Monorail system, which has been operational since December 24, 2004 but was plagued by delays due mechanical problems. The system reportedly lost US$85,000 per day while closed over a period of four months.
Further more Bombardiers’ reputation has been tarnished in the eastern United States for shoddy craftsmanship in the manufacturing of the high speed trainset for Amtrak. The high speed fleet has been taken out of service twice by the FRA for safety-critical defects due to poor manufacturing and design. Also the design has undergone modification over a thousand times since coming into service.
Recently, some human rights and Tibet support groups in Canada, the U.K., and the U.S. have put pressure on Bombardier over its sale of passenger carriages to the People's Republic of China for projects including the controversial Qingzang railway line into Tibet.
Also Bombardier has been criticized for the yearly procedure of moving assets (such as aircraft) from one Bombardier entity to another Bombardier entity and recording the transaction as revenue for the sole purpose of increasing annual bonuses of senior executives. The procedure was criticized as not being in the best interest of the shareholders although it received very little negative publicity.
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. ( Kawasaki J?k?gy? Kabushiki-gaisha ) (TYO: 7012 ) is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Minato-ku; Tokyo; and Kobe; Japan.
The company is named after its founder Shozo Kawasaki and has no connection with Kawasaki city.
Its most visible consumer product lines are its motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, although the company and its subsidiaries also manufacture ships, industrial plants, tractors, trains, industrial robots and aerospace equipment (including military aircraft). Subcontract work on jet aircraft (including jumbo jets) has been done for Boeing, Embraer, and Bombardier.
JS550
The 550 is a personal water craft made by Kawasaki. It was first built in 1982 and has been very popular. The 550 shares many of the same parts with the JS440 including the fiberglass hull, hood and hand pole. This craft played a huge role in the popularity of personal watercraft. It was arguably the most popular watercraft throughout the 1980s and early 90s. The 550 was a very popular choice for racing. The 550 underwent very few changes over its production history. The 550 slowly lost popularity when the larger more stable and powerful stand ups began appearing like the Kawasaki 650, 750 and Yamaha Superjet. Many consider the era of the 550 the heyday of personal watercraft racing.
JS400
The Jet Ski 400 or JS400 was the first mass-produced stand-up personal water craft produced by Kawasaki. All Jet Ski 400's utilized 398cc two-cylinder two-stroke engines adapted from Kawasaki's snowmobile line. The Jet Ski 400 was produced in at least two color schemes. The earlier versions were a pale lime green while the later models were bright yellow with black decals. The earliest models of the Jet Ski 400 had hand-laid fiberglass hulls and wooden bulkheads. The Jet Ski 400 is the craft which sparked the standup watercraft's explosive popularity, which lasted through the 1980s and early 1990s.
In 1982, Kawasaki released the JS550 based upon the JS440's hull. Many of the parts between these JS models are interchangeable.
Polaris Industries
Polaris Industries manufactures a full line of all-terrain vehicles (ATV), snowmobiles, Ranger utility vehicles in 2wd, 4wd or 6wd, Victory Motorcycles and EU rated quadcycles. Polaris no longer manufactures personal water craft and sportboats. Based in Roseau, Minnesota. Stock symbol: PII. Owns 25% of KTM of Austria.
Arctic Cat
Arctic Cat is a producer of all-terrain vehicles and Snowmobiles in the United States. Located in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, they are a top competitor with other snowmobile companies such as Polaris, Ski-Doo by Bombardier, and Yamaha Motor Company Ltd. The NASDAQ stock trading symbol is ACAT .
Snowmobiles
Arctic Cat is most famous for the series of ZR snowmobiles including the 500, 600, 700, 800, and also for the famed thundercat which was the fastest snowmobile available in the 90's. Recent sleds include the Firecat, Crossfire, and Sabercat which all use the same engine series but have different track lengths, and are available in 1200, 1000, 800, 600 and 500 cc motors.
All Terrain vehicles
Arctic Cat also makes a wide range of ATVs (all terrain vehicles). The motors range in size: 50cc, 90cc, 250cc, 300cc, 400cc, 500cc, 650cc, and 700cc.
History
David Johnson, Edgar Hetteen and Allan Hetteen were partners in Hetteen Hoist and Derrick Shop in Roseau, Minnesota. They designed and built a machine in 1954 to travel over snow. This company eventually became known as Polaris Industries. Edgar left the company in June 1960 and started Polar Manufacturing in Thief River Falls. The company name later changed to Arctic Enterprises.
Arctic Enterprises began producing Arctic Cat snowmobiles in 1960. Arctic Enterprises later expanded to purchase boat manufacturers such as Spirit Marine, Silver Line, Larson, and Lund. Spirit Marine produced the first Wetbike in 1978.
A snowless winter in 1980 and over-production forced Arctic Enterprises to scale back operations and close boat manufacting subsidiaries. Arctic Enterprises went bankrupt in 1981 and ceased production in 1982. In 1984, a new startup company was formed, called Arctco to continue production of the Arctic Cat snowmobile line. In 1996, the company officially changed its name to Arctic Cat.
In 2003, ATV sales surpassed those of snowmobiles due to years of lighter snowfall.
Yamaha Motor Company
Yamaha Motor Company Limted TYO: 7272 , a Japanese motorized vehicle-producing company, was initially part of the Yamaha Corporation. After expanding Yamaha Corporation into the world's biggest piano maker, then Yamaha CEO Genichi Kawakami took Yamaha into the field of motorized vehicles on July 1, 1955. Yamaha Motor is the world's second largest producer of motorcycles. It also produces many other motorized vehicles such as all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, outboard motors, and personal watercraft.
In 2000, Toyota and Yamaha Corporation made a capital alliance where Toyota paid Yamaha Corporation 10.5 billion yen for a 5 per cent share in Yamaha Motor Company while Yamaha and Yamaha Motor each bought 500,000 shares of Toyota stock in return.
The Superjet is a personal watercraft (PWC) made by Yamaha Motor Corporation. The Superjet is a "stand-up" PWC. Credit for its design is given to Clayton Jacobsen II. Part of their WaveRunner line of watercraft, it was introduced in 1990 and has become one of the most popular personal watercraft in history.
Honda
Honda Motor Co., Ltd , Honda Giken K?gy? Kabushiki-gaish , Honda Techno-research Industrial Corporation) (TYO: 7267 , NYSE: HMC), is a Japanese manufacturer of automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, scooters and robots. However, as the name of the company in Japanese suggests, the company is often described as an engineering or engine company rather than a car company. Honda makes ATVs, water craft, electrical generators, marine engines, lawn and garden equipment, and aeronautical and other mobile technologies. Honda's high-end line of cars are branded Acura in North America.
With more than 14 million internal combustion engines built each year, Honda is the largest engine-maker in the world. In 2004, the company began to produce diesel motors, which were both very quiet whilst not requiring particulate filters to pass pollution standards. It is arguable, however, that the foundation of Honda's success is the motorcycle division.
Honda is headquartered in Tokyo. Their shares trade on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the New York Stock Exchange, as well as exchanges in Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Kyoto, Fukuoka, London, Paris and Switzerland. American Honda Motor Co., is based in Torrance, California. Honda Canada Inc. is headquartered in the Scarborough area of Toronto, Ontario, and is building new corporate headquarters in Richmond Hill, Ontario, scheduled to relocate in 2008. Honda of Canada Manufacturing is based in Alliston, Ontario.
