Warrior (Aero Marine) Limited, developer of the amphibious Centaur, has reported lean interest from potential investors at home in Britain. The project is seeking international investors. The price of the Centaur will be similar to comparable land aircraft, Warrior says, at around US$500,000. \rSaid James Labouchere, managing director: "The aviation industry in the UK does not, it appears, have an appetite for an original development because they think that aviation companies don't make money. Investors look at companies that have failed, and ignore success stories like Britten-Norman. It's difficult to pinpoint the reason for this, it is so deep-seated."\rBack in April, EBAN reported that development of the folding wing seaplane was ready to go full steam ahead. Labouchere said at this time: "We have got the opportunity not just to replace the existing seaplane population but also to give it (the Centaur) a thumping great opportunity in the marine sector." \rSince April, however, there have been few developments in the project. Labouchere offered an explanation for this: "The top end of the industry is reducing the number of suppliers. Smaller suppliers are having a rough ride as big players don't want to deal with companies with less than a $100 million turnover. Without an industry partner, it is very difficult for a small company like us to get financial comfort.\r"We have got irons in the fire," he maintained, "but we are focused, very sadly, abroad. It's very disappointing. We have been so spoilt with the opportunity to employ the right people here in the UK. We've got a filing cabinet full of the most fabulous resumés of people longing to get stuck into the programme. We've also got the world's leading fast displacement hull development capability here, but no investors." \rWarrior is looking to American and Canadian companies for money, and said it is finding some interest. "It's all dependent on getting all the bricks together in one wall," Labouchere summarised. \rThe company reports interest for a large order of Centaurs from United Aviation International (UAI), the Swedish-based global aircraft dealers. UAI envisages purchasing ten Centaurs for HANSA Ring Baltic State Aviation Corporation. This assoc-iation was formed two years ago and is made up of the nine countries that surround the Baltic Sea. Its purpose is to organise aviation between these countries. The Saab 340 and 2000 aircraft were originally slated to serve this international aviation cooperative, but following cessation of production of these aircraft, Labouchere states that interest in the Centaur is being shown. \rJack Wellmann, chairman of UAI, spoke to EBAN about HANSA: "Following the closure of Saab's aviation facilities, we arrived at the conclusion that cooperation is not even possible working through standard airports with their ever increasing number of travellers and upper air space completely slotted. We decided to revolutionise, to go low and slow, rather than fast and high."\r"We will be specifying aero marinas. James Labouchere is coming into the picture by building an aircraft which can land a distance out at sea, avoiding the problem of noise pollution, fold back its wings and quietly paddle to the shore."\rAmphibious Aircraft Aviation (AAA) is a whole new philosophy, according to Wellmann. Pooled research, design, production, backup and marketing will be part of the cooperation.\rWellmann anticipates adding to the initial order of ten Centaurs for HANSA with many more aircraft as new marinas are added to the project. He also believes that UAI could sell around 360 Centaurs worldwide within a five-year period. Wellmann gave an insight into the different personalities involved in the project: "An inventor like James (Labouchere) is good for his ideas and is pushing his Centaur. A guy like Mr Dornier (also potentially providing aircraft for the project) is not as pushy or as inventive as James, but he is sitting on a big tradition and production equipment."