That’s how it is supposed to go—and often it does go that well, provided you do your homework before you launch for the big event.

If this is your first flight to a given airshow or fly-in, look for a pilot who has made the trip before and is willing to share information. You might even find someone who will make the flight with you.

Pick the route that works best for your aircraft, keeping in mind performance, especially when it comes to climbing over any high terrain on the way. A turbocharged Cessna T182 might not have any trouble, but the pilot of the vintage Taylorcraft might take a longer route that keeps the airplane over lower terrain.

Consider using supplemental oxygen. Though the regs say that the minimum flight crew needs to be on supplemental oxygen at 12,500 feet after 30 minutes, most pilots begin to experience hypoxia at much lower altitudes—sometimes as low as 6,000 feet—so be prepared.

Know how to calculate performance and use the avionics you’re flying with. You don’t want to be the pilot randomly pushing buttons to update a flight plan while hurtling through the air.

Be conservative about weight and balance as well as performance. While it is tempting to overload your aircraft by ‘just a little’ with all the gear you want for camping, it can come back to bite you. Remember, the OEM determined the calculations in the POH using a new airplane and a test pilot at the controls.

Have at least two methods for updating your preflight briefing in the air—a tablet and com radio, for example—and always carry a backup handheld radio. If you’ve never used a payphone (these people walk among us—payphone operation is now part of my curriculum), learn how to use it. There are places that lack cell service but still have a payphone on location, believe it or not.

Pack water and snacks for the trip, and be wary of dehydration and hunger as they make you sleepy. Drink some water before the approach to landing, as water wakes you up—and an alert pilot is a better pilot.

Plan each leg of the flight meticulously. Be careful that get-there-itis does not cloud your judgment. Build in extra days, and ID places to divert to on each leg.

Make sure you are night current and proficient before you begin the journey. There are times when a pilot finds themselves playing “beat the clock” in an aircraft not certified for night flight because the last flight segment went longer than they anticipated.

For navigation, use a combination of digital and analog methods—if the digital goes tango uniform, the paper could save your trip. Make sure both paper and digital materials are current. You do not want to fly with a sectional years out of date and enter Class D airspace thinking it’s a Class E airport—only to learn the airport now has a tower.

Be conservative about fuel burn. Make a list of all the airports that have fuel, located along your route and within 20 miles off to each side, just in case.

If you are flying with a copilot or a companion, have a discussion about cockpit duties before you leave the ground. With a copilot, make sure to designate who is the ‘pilot flying’ and who is the pilot monitoring and fielding radio calls and programming avionics.

If they are not a pilot, you can still assign them the task of watching for traffic and dialing in frequencies on the com side.

Airshow NOTAMs

By regulation, specifically FAR 91.103: “Each pilot in command shall, before beginning a flight, become familiar with all available information concerning that flight.” This means the pilot needs to know what weather to expect, be familiar with the forecasts, fuel requirements, aircraft takeoff and landing data, weight and balance, alternatives available if the planned flight cannot be completed, and any known traffic delays of which the pilot in command has been advised by ATC. If your intended destination is an airshow or fly-in, this regulation is now on steroids—expect to find a multi- page notice to air missions (NOTAM) released several days before the event.

The larger the fly-in, the larger the NOTAM. Pay special attention to the communication procedures. If the airport is non-towered, it is likely that a temporary control tower will be brought in for the event. The procedures are created to lessen frequency congestion.

Instead of having hundreds of pilots all talking at once, it’s often one radio call made over a specific landmark to establish contact. Rock your wings when recognized, then follow instructions for landing.

Most NOTAMs have traffic pattern diagrams imposed on Google Earth images for illustration—it’s easy to see where you should be and where you need to avoid when you have an image to refer to.

Pilots who have flown into airshows before—like Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo and EAA AirVenture—recommend having a hard copy of the NOTAM with you in the cockpit along with any digital presentation. Paper doesn’t run out of batteries.

Even if you have flown into this particular event before, still study the NOTAM, as they are often adjusted year to year—for example, traffic patterns may be altered to move aircraft away from heavily populated parking areas.

Skills for the Airshow Arrival

Brush up on specialty takeoffs and landings, crosswind approaches, and go-arounds before you head out on the great adventure. You do not want to be rusty flying into an airshow.

There is a maneuver you were probably not taught as a student pilot but you need it to establish communication and many of these events—that is rocking the wings of the aircraft.

It sounds simple enough, but the controllers who ask the airplanes to identify themselves by rocking their wings really want to see you rock those wings. Make that airplane thrash around like a 10-year-old who has had a frog put down their shirt—but don’t stall or roll inverted.

Practice approaches, especially short approaches and precision landing technique, because “land on the green dot” means land on the green dot.

Study the airport diagram for the facility and know where you will be expected to park. Usually, airshows have ground marshalers, often people on scooters wearing safety vests with FOLLOW ME on the back.

Remember to watch your wingtips as you taxi, especially when there are lots of people around. Though there may be designated pathways for pe- destrians, some people drift outside of their lanes. You don’t want to be the pilot of the Cessna 172 who hits someone in the back of the head with your wing while you taxi, or the guy in the Beechcraft Baron who decides to ignore the ground handlers and taxi into the grass—putting the nosewheel into a gopher hole, resulting in two propeller strikes.

And, in the end, if you are delayed getting to the event, learn from the experience—and realize that it will make a better story to be told around the campfire.

The post A Fond Memory: Sun ‘n Fun Aerospace Expo 2023 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Over the weekend, Mahomes-endorsed Airshare closed a deal to acquire rival Wheels Up’s private aircraft management business. The move more than quadruples Airshare’s own managed fleet—comprising Cessna Citations, Bombardier Globals, Embraer Legacies and Praetors, and other models—with the addition of 90 airframes.

The transaction leaves Wheels Up with around 215 aircraft, including 75 Beechcraft King Airs, 61 light jets, and 52 super midsize jets capable of making transcontinental flights. According to Private Jet Card Comparisons, Wheels Up prior to the deal was the fourth-largest fractional and charter provider in the U.S. based on flight hours. Airshare ranked 11th.

In addition to the aircraft, the Overland Park, Kansas-based company will inherit 300 personnel from Wheels Up’s private management business. John Owen, CEO of Airshare, told FLYING the move will double or even triple the company’s headcount.

Billing itself as a private aviation services provider, Airshare offers third-party aircraft management in addition to fractional ownership, jet card, and charter services. Already, it manages King Air, Citation Excel, and Citation X models that make up the bulk of Wheels Up’s fleet, many of which were included in the transaction. The company also manages light and large-cabin jets such as the Embraer Phenom 300 and Bombardier Global 5000.

Owen sat down with FLYING to discuss more details of the deal.

Expanding Options

Airshare began exploring aircraft management in 2008 with the launch of its Executive Flight Services offering, which along with the firm’s fractional business was later rebranded under the Airshare umbrella. According to Owen, a deal such as the one with Wheels Up was a long time coming.

“We had been looking at acquisitions in the aircraft management space for really the last few years but hadn’t come across anything that made sense to go all the way through with,” Owen told FLYING. “We were approached by a representative with Wheels Up earlier this year and asked if we had any interest in pursuing their particular aircraft management business. So that’s how it all started.”

Owen said Airshare considered a few smaller deals but landed on Wheels Up because it “instantly gives us a coast-to-coast footprint for aircraft management.” Coast-to-coast coverage has been on the firm’s radar for a while now, and the acquisition will support its plans to offer fractional and jet card services nationally. It added those services to the Florida market in May and will soon set its sights on the Northeast.

Of course, the quadrupling of its managed fleet will be of major benefit to Airshare. On the fractional side, it operates a total of 22 Embraer Phenoms and Bombardier Challengers. But the managed business covers aircraft from Phenoms and Challengers to Citations, Gulfstreams, Legacies, and Globals, several of which will be added through the transaction. The company will even get its hands on a few new models.

“With the acquisition of this particular aircraft management business, there’s a lot of [the above aircraft].” Owen said. “There’ll also be some Dassaults and some other planes. So it’s a lot of what we’ve dealt with in the past, but there’s also some new types in there as well.”

Owen is particularly excited about the addition of Wheels Up support teams, which he views as a crucial piece of the puzzle. Not only will it more than double the company’s aircraft management staff, but it will allow Wheels Up customers to work with the same representatives they’re used to—as if the deal never happened.

“We are not just absorbing the aircraft… We are taking the aircraft, the aircraft management teams, the maintenance teams, and the various accounting and administrative staff teams all along with it,” said Owen. “So, those owners that were under the Wheels Up umbrella will see zero changes day one after the acquisition, because they’ll be working with the exact same teams they have been the entire time.”

The Airshare CEO emphasized that the new managed aircraft will complement—rather than supplement—its fractional services. The two businesses are stand-alone, he said, since customers who bought into the fractional program did so with Phenoms and Challengers in mind, not the models covered by the management service.

Rarely—on 2 to 3 percent of trips, by Owen’s estimate—Airshare will “off-fleet” flights using primarily managed aircraft, providing a slight bonus to customers. But the real benefit, he said, is the potential for coastal expansion and the addition of support teams to assist both new and legacy clients.

The deal does not necessarily mean Airshare will place greater emphasis on aircraft management. Rather, the intent is to expand options for customers, many of whom jump back and forth between the firm’s services. For example, Owen estimated about half of Airshare’s managed aircraft are owned by previous fractional customers.

“I think the core of our business is private aviation services,” he said. “It isn’t fractional, it isn’t managed, it isn’t charter, and it isn’t jet cards. It’s really…having a wide swath of private aviation services that fit your particular needs at a particular time.”

Looking ahead, Airshare is confident in the demand for its managed services. The company keeps an eye on pricing and utilization data and regularly consults with customers to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the private aviation sector. Owen pointed to a healthy lead time of two years for new aircraft as an indicator of a well-oiled supply chain.

The Airshare boss also hinted that the company could one day add electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) and other emerging aircraft types to its fleet. That won’t happen in the near future, but the novel designs are on the firm’s radar.

“It’s definitely something that’s intriguing that we’re watching very closely,” Owen said. “We’re just kind of trying to figure out who’s going to survive that space. What exactly is going to come out of that space? But I think it makes a lot of sense, and I think a lot of people can use it.”

Arrow Pointing Down for Wheels Up?

The deal for Wheels Up’s private management business was initially revealed in August, when it announced it was seeking emergency funding in the form of a bridge investment from Delta Air Lines.

Later that month, Delta, Knighthead Capital Management, and Certares Management—which owns luxury travel agency Internova Travel Group—invested $500 million in the company to keep it afloat. But the bailout came at the expense of a 95 percent stake in the firm, placing its ownership largely in Delta’s hands.

Coincidentally, Delta once owned Wheels Up’s management business in full. It sold its Private Jets unit to its new subsidiary in 2020, retaining ownership of one-fifth of the business.

Wheels Up last year became the largest Part 135 operator in the U.S., with more than 1,500 owned, leased, managed, and partner aircraft in service. But since going public in July 2021, the company has lost money each quarter and contended with cost cutting, layoffs, and reports of cash flow woes.

Those rumors reached a fever pitch in May, precipitating the resignation of founder and CEO Kenny Dichter. Former chief financial officer Todd Smith took his place as interim CEO before the firm announced George Mattson, a Delta board member, as the permanent successor.

Mattson will reportedly shelve Wheels Up’s vision of an Airbnb-type marketplace to focus on existing services. In June, the company transitioned to a slimmed-down, more populated, capped rate primary service area, part of an emphasis on cost cutting and streamlined operations. Moving forward, it will also integrate its sales and marketing activities more tightly with Delta.

According to Doug Gollan, editor-in-chief of Private Jet Card Comparisons, Wheels Up remains one of a handful of providers offering cut prices for continental flights that are $10,000 to $25,000 cheaper than the competition. The company’s King Airs also continue to be viewed as a cost-effective option for short flights.

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The post Airshare Quadruples Fleet in Deal for Wheels Up Private Management Business appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The option joins McCauley props available on the B200, as well as B300 choices from Hartzell, MT Propeller, and others.

The 105-inch-diameter, four-blade aluminum, swept-blade prop system achieved type certification in July.

At a media briefing on Tuesday in Wichita, Kansas, the Textron Aviation team expressed its enthusiasm for McCauley’s achievement, likening it to the type certification of a new aircraft model for either of its aircraft brands, Cessna, Beechcraft, or Bell.

“The new McCauley C780 offers King Air customers increased performance, a quieter cabin, and greater efficiency,” Heidi McNary, vice president and general manager of McCauley Propeller Systems, said in a statement. “For 85 years, McCauley has been committed to delivering creative solutions and driving customers forward with their pioneering designs and strategies. We look forward to continuing to support the future of flight and legendary aircraft like the Beechcraft King Air.”

The first installation went on a King Air 350 owned by ExecuJet Charter Service in Florida, a private Part 135 charter operator. Interested owners can seek out the installation at Textron Aviation Service Centers or authorized McCauley service facilities.

Prop Stats

The C780 props for the King Air B300 include the following features and benefits, according to Textron Aviation:

• Propeller weight savings of more than 50 pounds 
• Increased takeoff and climb performance
• Reduced noise in the cabin and cockpit
• Extended time between overhauls (TBOs) of 5,000 hours or 72 months
• Textron Aviation’s 4,000 hours or 36-month limited propeller warranty

The King Air 360, which debuted in 2021, retained the four-blade Hartzell props from the 350. 

The post McCauley Celebrates Certification for King Air Props appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

On the cover we feature the Beechcraft King Air 200—which creates the latest platform for Garmin’s Autoland supplemental type certificate. The STC marks the first for the avionics pioneer, and we test fly it for our readers in the upcoming issue.

Inside the pages, we compare the Meyer 200 and Navion as classic cruisers to buy on the used market, and give you our assessment. We fly to the Finger Lakes area of New York—simply gorgeous with its autumn leaves., and test out a round of kneeboards for your iPad mini. Plus we give you all of the columns and proficiency articles you’ve come to expect from our deep bench of expert contributors—so make sure you’ve subscribed. You’ll also get a chance to win in our Ultimate FLYING Giveaway!

The post Choose the Next FLYING Cover appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The on-demand Part 135 provider, which reserves prepurchased time on airplanes from charter operators through a membership model, on Wednesday announced that it received emergency funding from Delta Air Lines, which owns one-fifth of the company. It postponed its earnings announcement, which was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Multiple media reports claim the firm said there was “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue operations, even with the investment. Wheels Up stock (NYSE: UP) was in freefall Wednesday morning, tumbling nearly 45 percent.

“Wheels Up Experience Inc. is actively involved in discussions around strategic business partnerships for the company and [Wednesday] announced that Delta Air Lines has provided a short-term capital infusion to the company,” the company told investors in a statement.

Wheels Up also said it has entered into a nonbinding letter of intent to sell its private jet management business to private aviation company Airshare. The move sheds non-core company assets and was hinted at in May, when the company underwent a leadership shake-up amid weak financials and whispers of bankruptcy.

Airshare stands to double or even triple its owned and managed fleet if the deal goes through. Wheels Up would be left with some 150 King Airs, Citation Excels, Citation Xs, and other aircraft out of its current fleet of around 1,500, which includes partner aircraft.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to customary approvals.

“Airshare has our same dedication to the customer and focus on extraordinary service, and we believe this will be a great destination for our managed fleet and team,” said Dave Holtz, chairman of operations at Wheels Up. “As we looked for a strong partner, Airshare’s commitment to aircraft management and overall customer experience stood out.”

What It Means

Rumors of Wheels Up’s cash flow woes first emerged Tuesday, when Bloomberg News reported the firm would seek emergency funding to keep it afloat. The hope is that shedding the private aircraft management business will help it bounce back after a disappointing few quarters.

Wheels Up became the largest Part 135 operator in the U.S. last year with more than 1,500 owned, leased, managed, and partner aircraft in service. But since going public, the company has lost money each quarter.

Those losses, combined with recent cost cutting, layoffs, and murmurs of bankruptcy, precipitated Wheels Up founder and chief executive Kenny Dichter’s May resignation. The company has yet to name his successor, with former chief financial officer Todd Smith serving as interim CEO. Dichter’s departure also marked a shift in focus toward the company’s core charter business.

In the first quarter of 2023, Wheels Up reported year-over-year revenue growth of $26 million, suggesting some rebound potential. But compared to Q1 2022, it posted a 1 percent decline in active members and a 13 percent dip in live flight legs as its net loss climbed $12 million.

It’s unclear how much the aircraft management division contributed to that figure. But Airshare sees potential in the business.

“Aircraft management has become a core source of revenue for Airshare,” said John Owen, president and CEO of Airshare. “Adding aircraft capacity and valuable owner relationships to our rapidly expanding managed fleet positions us very well for the future.”

Airshare, which also offers days-based fractional ownership, jet cards, charter services, and third-party maintenance, already provides management for the three aircraft types (Beechcraft King Air, and the Cessna Citation Excel series and Citation X) that currently comprise the bulk of Wheels Up’s fleet. Those services also extend to light and large-cabin jets, such as the Embraer Phenom 300 or the Bombardier Global 5000.

Integrating Wheels Up’s base of managed aircraft should add flexibility for Airshare customers. Doug Gollan, editor-in-chief of Private Jet Card Comparisons, reported, “Jet card and fractional customers of the Overland Park, Kansas-based company will now have broader charter options when their program aircraft type doesn’t fit their mission.”

In addition, aircraft owners currently in Wheels Up’s management program will now have increased opportunities to earn money when they aren’t flying by chartering their aircraft to Airshare’s base of customers.

“A core part of our business is aircraft management, and this is certainly going to strengthen that aspect of our business,” an Airshare spokesperson told FLYING. “But we offer a holistic suite of solutions that encompass aircraft management, fractional programs, and charter, and through this potential transaction, every customer we have across all those solutions will benefit.”

Airshare appears to be gathering momentum, having recently placed an order to double its Bombardier Challenger 3500 fleet, expanded into Florida, and extended its brand deal with Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes II.

According to research by The Business Journals, the company records around $142 million in annual revenue.

The post Wheels Up Seeks Emergency Funding, Delta Steps into the Gap appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

For the quarter that ended July 1, the company posted net income of $287.9 million, or $1.50 per diluted share, compared with $257.9 million, or $1.33 per diluted share, a year earlier. Sales rose to $1.32 billion from $1.24 billion.

The company, whose product lines include equipment for fitness, outdoor, automotive, and marine markets in addition to aviation, counted the release of its Autoland and autothrottle systems to the retrofit market among the period’s highlights. The company said the systems’ certification for certain Beechcraft King Air aircraft is “imminent.” Garmin’s Smart Glide also received a 2023 Readers’ Choice Award from FLYING.

• READ MORE: FLYING Reveals Innovation Award Series for 2023

“We returned to consolidated revenue growth in the second quarter with growth in three of our five segments, demonstrating the resilience of our diversified business model, said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and CEO. “Our recent wearable launches have been well received, and we expect continued revenue growth throughout the remainder of the year.” 

For the six-month period, Garmin reported net income of $490 million, or $2.56 per diluted share compared with $469 million or $2.43 per diluted share during the same period in 2022. Sales rose to $2.47 billion from $2.41 billion. 

The post Garmin Reports Promising Second-Quarter Results appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

Initial approvals will be for King Air 200s that have the Garmin G1000 NXi integrated flight deck STC. After approval on the 200 series is secured, Garmin will pursue the nod on similarly equipped King Air 300s as well. 

FLYING’s editor-in-chief Julie Boatman had a chance to fly with the new system—including the associated autothrottle in Garmin’s test bed King Air 200 with demonstration pilot Jessica Koss. Watch as the system goes through its activation sequence and performs a creditable landing back at Appleton International Airport (KATW) in Wisconsin.

The post Watch: We Fly Garmin Autoland King Air 200 appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The King Air series will join more than 600 OEM-equipped, Autoland-capable aircraft already in the field.

• READ MORE: Top 5 Things We Look Forward to at Oshkosh

GHA 15 Height Advisor

A great new tool for light sport experimental aircraft, the GHA 15 height advisor puts above-ground-level data on the altitude tape of a Garmin G3X Touch primary flight display. The unit—a little larger than a deck of cards and weighing about a pound—is available to order now, with deliveries beginning in a couple of weeks. The GHA 15 calculates the aircraft’s height above the ground using its own radio waves and measuring the time it takes for those signals to return.

Jim Alpiser, director of aftermarket sales for Garmin Aviation, also called out the utility of the GHA 15 for pilots flying into remote and unimproved areas. “It’s using our radar technology to provide that above-ground-level information,” said Alpiser, “which can be challenging certainly over water, if you’re flying over clear lakes, if you’re flying over rough terrain, if you’re backcountry folks—I think that’s another area that’s really going to benefit from this technology.”

The GHA 15 incorporates standard callouts, starting at 300 feet agl, and in selected intervals down to 1 foot agl. These callouts can be customized according to the pilot’s preferences. The system retails for $1,995 plus installation.

PlaneSync Update Available 

In April, Garmin projected the expansion of its PlaneSync connected aircraft management system would be available in Q3 of this year for a wide range of aircraft—and turns out it is indeed ready now. The GDL 60 datalink uses 4G, LTE, Wi-Fi, or cellular connectivity to help the pilot streamline pre- and postflight processes. While the GDL 60 uses LTE to check fuel and systems status, it uses LTE or Wi-Fit to download database updates and upload engine and other flight data. Downloads can take place when the pilot is away from the aircraft. 

The GDL 60 can integrate with several varieties of Garmin avionics, including GTN Xi series navigators, TXi series flight displays, GI 275 electronic flight instruments, and select Garmin integrated flight decks. Starting in 2024, PlaneSync will add the capability to automatically transmit engine and flight data, and it can then be viewed using the Garmin Pilot app or on flygarmin.com—or some features on a Garmin D2 Mach 1 smart watch.

The post Garmin Connects PlaneSync with More Airplanes appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

But its latest impending approval? Garmin announced on Wednesday that certification is “imminent” on a new retrofit kit for certain Beechcraft King Air 200s. While not technically the first retrofit package for Autoland—that honor goes to the upgrade offered by Daher for certain previously delivered 940s—it marks the first supplemental type certificate provided by Garmin directly to the aftermarket.

Initial approvals will be for King Air 200s that have the Garmin G1000 NXi integrated flight deck STC. After approval on the 200 series is secured, Garmin will pursue the nod on similarly equipped King Air 300s as well. 

“Bringing Garmin Autoland and Autothrottle to the Beechcraft King Air, and for the first time to the aftermarket, is a tremendous step toward transforming the general and business aviation fleet with safety-enhancing autonomous technologies,” said Phil Straub, Garmin executive vice president and managing director, aviation. “The G1000 King Air retrofit program was launched in 2007, initially on the King Air C90, with now over 800 G1000 retrofits in the King Air fleet. We are pleased to provide these operators an upgrade path to Autoland and Autothrottle, demonstrating our deep commitment to developing and continually supporting G1000 and our customers that have trusted us with this investment in their aircraft.”

The flight testing involved for the King Air STC has been significant for Garmin, according to Dan Lind, senior director of aviation sales and marketing, first in the complexity of the twin turboprop as compared to a single but also owing to the fact the King Air weighs twice as much as an M600, or Vision Jet, or TBM 940. FLYING will be taking a closer look at Autoland in action on the King Air next week during EAA AirVenture.

Autothrottles Also a Big Deal

A major improvement to the well-loved King Air, Garmin’s Autothrottle retrofit kit will also be available to fully integrate with the G1000 NXi. The autothrottle installation will provide automatic control of the engine via the power levers, maintaining their proper position for the phase of flight. The autothrottle will also help the pilot manage engine-out situations, setting the power lever on the side of the failed engine to a fixed point and adjusting the lever on the operating engine appropriately.

Together, the features bring significant safety upgrades to the King Air line, which continues to soldier on as a workhorse of choice across private and corporate fleets around the world.

The post Garmin to Put Autoland, Autothrottle on Select King Airs appeared first on FLYING Magazine.

The specially modified aircraft will be used for cloud seeding.

Cloud seeding involves the deliberate introduction of various substances, often dry ice or silver iodide, that acts as condensation nuclei in an attempt to induce precipitation.

According to Textron, the company was awarded the contract by AvMet International LLC based in Fargo, North Dakota, for one Beechcraft King Air 360CHW and four Beechcraft King Air 260.

• We Fly: Beechcraft King Air 360

AvMet and its partners Weather Modification International (WMI) and Fargo Jet Center (FJC) will equip the aircraft with a cloud water inertial probe (CWIP), data logger with aircraft tracking, and cloud seeding equipment. 

“We’re honored AvMet has chosen a fleet of Beechcraft King Air aircraft to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Meteorology cloud seeding program,” said Bob Gibbs, vice president, special mission sales for Textron Aviation. “The King Air continues to be selected for a wide range of special mission roles around the world due to the aircraft’s capabilities and reliability.”   

The post Saudi Arabia Selects King Airs for Weather Mission appeared first on FLYING Magazine.