Free Post Trial Brief - District Court of Federal Claims - federal

Case 1:96-cv-00408-LAS

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UNITED STATES COURT OF FEDERAL CLAIMS

INNOVAIR AVIATION, LTD.,

Plaintiff,
Vo

UNITED STATES, Defendant.

) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

Docket No.:

96-408C

Pages: Place: Date:

946 through 1032 Washington, D.C. October 23, 2007

HERITAGE REPORTING CORPORATION Official Reporters 1220 L Street, N.W., Suite 600 Washington, D.C. 20005-4018 (202) 628-4888 [email protected]

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THOMAS WEIGT - CROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I0II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Q referring? A Q Yes.

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And is this the document to which you were

So it was part of your continuing efforts to

work things out, is that correct? A Q Obviously it was. I just don't recall -I understand. And I understand the timing,

and it's been 17, 16 years or i0 years, whatever it's been. Please don't apologize for that. Everybody in this room understands that. You were asked yesterday by Ms. F!oyd if you recalled attending an April 26 meeting at which the parties exchanged offers to try to buy each other out and try to work out an arrangement. Do you recall that? A meeting. Q A Q And you recall being there? Yes. Were you able to successfully conclude I don't recall the date but I recall the

negotiations? A Q No. And subsequently the Carmichael and Mr.

Wilson and the Wilson Carmichael group sued Basler Turbo Conversions, Basler Flight Services and Mr. and Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888

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THOMAS WEIGT - CROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Mrs. Basler, did they not? A Q Yes. And Ms. Floyd introduced the settlement

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agreement in that case yesterday, do you recall that? A I recall the settlement agreement. I don't

recall if we talked about it. Q It's Exhibit 16 in "the" book, or Tab 16 in

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"the" book, and Defense Exhibit 235. MR. COBB: Your Honor, I'd like to approach the witness and ask him to take a look -- I have copies for everybody, so nobody has to go to a binder. At Defendant's Exhibit 240 which is the complaint that initiated and spells out what was at issue in this case and the official judgment entered in the case. (The documents referred to were marked for identification as Defendant's Exhibit Nos. 240 and 249.) THE COURT: witness. MR. COBB: Your Honor, I would move these as self-authenticating public records. MS. FLOYD: No objection, Your Honor. THE COURT: The Court will admit DX-240 and DX-249. The memorandum from the U.S. District Court Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888 Okay. You may approach the

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THOMAS WEIGT - CROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Q from the Eastern District of Wisconsin. BY MR. COBB:

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Directing your attention to DX-240, did you

have a chance to review this at the time? Did you participate at all in the management or discussion of the case within the group? You were not a personal defendant, so -A Q That's correct. But you were managing Basler Turbo

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Conversions. A Q That's correct. Did you participate in defense's case at

all?
A Q Yes. And do you recall being deposed in

connection with that? A Q Yes. Do you recall that the causes of action were

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a derivative claim arguing that BTC had not been operated in the beset interest of its shareholders and a breach of fiduciary duty by the Baslers, a breach of contract against BFS, and conspiracy under common law pursuant to the Wisconsin statutes? Are you aware of that? A

Not specifically, but I'm sure that's what Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888

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THOMAS WEIGT - CROSS 1 2 it is.

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Q

Subsequently at the conclusion of the case

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after it was settled, judgment was entered against Basler Turbo Conversions, Inc. and Basler Fight Service, directing your attention to Exhibit DX-249. A judgment was entered against Basler Turbo Conversions and Basler Flight Services, Inc. in the amount of $2,500,000, directing that it be paid immediately. Is that correct? A I called it the settlement amount, but yes,

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I see the judgment here, yes. Q And in the course of the litigation, do you

recall, and at other times, do you recall Mr. Carmichael and Mr. Wilson demanding the access that the TLA granted them to the technical data that Basler refused to give them? A Q Yes. And did Basler ever give them that

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information? A Q No. Do you recall UTC demanding the same access

t the same information pursuant to their agreement and their subsequent agreement with Innovair? A Q No. I'm sorry, you -Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888

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THOMAS WEIGT - CROSS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 I0 II 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Q BY MR. COBB:

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With regard to United Technologies, how did

your relationship evolve with them after the seizure and return to, not return, the seizure and the provision to BTC of the TLA mature? Did you continue to have discussions with UTC? A Q Yes. And what was the nature of those

discussions? A My recollection is at some point, and I

don't recall the exact timing, but obviously after the seizure, there was a point at which they hired and assigned an ex Pratt & Whitney marketing executive, his name was Donald Miller, Dusty Miller, and his mission, his assignment was to work with the Pratt & Whitney engine field representative. They have a network of field representatives around the wo~id that are assigned to various client groups. His assignment was to work through these field representatives to attempt to sell the BT-67 aircraft. Q A In that regard -Just to finish the thought. That was one

way we worked together. It wasn't the only way, but it wa some way we worked together in a fairly visible sense. Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888

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THOMAS WEIGT - CROSS 1 2 Q I apologize for interrupting. That's fine.

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And you had further discussions about their desire to operate a conversion facility in Asia? A much, no. Q Do you recall Mr. Miller operating in I don't recall that we discussed Asia very

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another area of the world? A Q A In what sense? Selling, you mean? Yes. I don't recall. I think that at a very

minimum he would have operated in the united territories which I think we called the sea countries, the Pacific Rim. He would have operated there at a very minimum but I don't know that he was restricted to that. Q I don't recall. So you simply don't recall. Okay. Did you pursue any opportunities with UTC to create conversion facilities elsewhere? A The one that I recall, and there may have

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been more, was Greece. And in that case we actually, in a real high level sense, laid out an arrangement for starting construction in Oshkosh, moving production over toe Hellenic Aerospace, and there may have been more, I just don't remember. But that one I Heritage Reporting Corporation (202) 628-4888

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THOMAS WEIGT - CROSS 1 2 3 4 do remember. Q

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Let me direct your attention to Plaintiff's

Exhibit 274 with the hope that Your Honor has the binder. THE COURT: That was the one I just got rid
of.

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(Pause.) THE COURT: Okay, I've got 274. BY MR. COBB: Do you recognize this as a letter from you

to Mr. Johnson at United Technologies on or about september 28, 1992 in connection with the project in Greece you just described? A Q Yes. I'm just trying to help you put it in time.

Is this the timeframe you're talking about? A Q Yes. You were considering in 1992 a situation

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where you would open a conversion facility in Greece after making the first two planes and training people in Oshkosh. UTC would then be converting planes in Greece, is that correct? A I don't know that it's accurate to say that

UTC would be converting the airplanes. The airplanes would have been converted at Hellenic Aerospace.

Heritage Reporting Corporation
(202) 628-4888

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