ORLANDO, Fla. -- Keying off of the success of its Falcon 45, Bus and Coach International is now turning to a smaller version of the coach in hopes of becoming a player in another segment of the charter-and-tour market.

Being readied for delivery in April or May is the Falcon 35, a big-ride, big-look, 35-foot coach the company hopes will attract operators looking for buses to accommodate the smaller tour-and-charter groups most carriers have been seeing the past few years.

"Theres been a lot of downsizing in groups and weve gotten a lot of inquires for it from our customers," said BCIs chief engineer, David Oldridge.

The Falcon 35 will offer many of the same features as its 45-foot sister, which BCI says has been very successful since its introduction three years ago.

"Weve had very few issues with the Falcon 45 and it has been a very good bus for us," said Oldridge.

Both coaches have power trains using Caterpillar engines and transmissions, as well as safety packages that include the Bendix (formerly Eaton) VORAD anti-collision warning system, adaptive cruise control, backup camera and lap belts.

In addition, many of the components of the two coaches are cross compatibility, making life easier for mechanics and parts managers at motorcoach companies with both models in their fleets.

"We couldnt make all of the components compatible but weve made as many as we could," said Oldridge.

BCI, which touts its line of coaches as being "Built by Operators for Operators," got some extra help in putting the finishing touches on the Falcon 35, which was unveiled at the UMA Motorcoach Expo here last month.

Oldridge said select customers drove and road in the 35-foot prototype coach and critiqued it from front to back and top to bottom. Many of their suggestions interior materials, rear-noise abatement, window design and restroom modifications among them were incorporated into the production model.

"They had some great ideas and they all did a pretty good job for us," he noted.

Safety has been a key ingredient in BCI coaches since they were introduced and this year was no exception.

Standard equipment for both Falcon models includes the Vorad warning system that uses Doppler radar to sense when other vehicles get too close, the adaptive cruise control that alters the speed of the coach to match the speed of traffic and advanced braking capability that can stop the coach in shorter distances.

In addition, each seat is equipped with retractable lap belts and BCI plans to make three-point belts available on its 2010 models.

While the 2009 Falcon 45 has few changes from the previous year, both the 45 and 35 models will be seeing at least one major change next year. Because Caterpillar is getting out of the on-highway market in 2010, BCI says it will be switching to International MaxxForce engines.

However, Cat plans to continue producing automatic transmissions for buses, so BCI plans to stick with them for its two Falcon models.

Oldridge said he does not expect any problems making the switch over, although the International engines are five inches taller than the Cat motors, meaning some modifications will have to be made to the engine compartments.