John Glidewell likes to imagine having been a fly on the wall in the early 1960s at Beech Aircraft Corporation during conversations between company president Olive Ann Beech, her engineering executives and engine supplier Pratt & Whitney as they were considering combining the proven airframe of the Model 80 series Queen Air with the gas…
Circling the globe in a Beechcraft King Air on an extended five-month mission is a profound and addictive pursuit. Talking with Inuit people living in the stunning remoteness of Canada’s massive but sparsely populated northern territory of Nunavut. The happy greeting with smiles visible through hazmat suits in Bangkok, Thailand, after getting the sense an…
He’s only had use of FL-586 for six months, but Ben Giles is certain he’s found paradise in the form of an airplane: a 2008 Beechcraft King Air 350 he purchased in 2020 and had extensively refurbished and upgraded at Textron Aviation’s Indianapolis Service Center. “This is the aircraft we will keep forever, or as…
It’s tough for Jeff Lowe to fly his 1979 Beechcraft King Air C90 past an airport that is home to an aftermarket completion center. As co-founder and president of Aviation Fabricators – or AvFab – he knows each facility is a customer or prospective customer for the interior parts and components his company designs and…
From flying and managing one Beechcraft King Air in 2005 to directing a fleet of 23 aircraft and the operations of the flourishing Hawthorne (California) Municipal Airport, Levi Stockton is skillfully navigating his career and the growth of a company he convinced four real estate investors to support when he was 23 years old. The…
With the help of Beechcraft King Air operators, Textron Aviation hopes to form the largest peacetime airlift with at least 200 aircraft flying to Orlando Executive Airport on June 4, 2022. That would mean a Textron Aviation aircraft taking off or landing every two minutes, taking Special Olympics athletes and coaches from their home bases…
When you think about what a Green Beret does in his free time, you likely don’t envision him sewing in his garage. But that’s exactly where you’d find Ross Johnson in the evenings when he was on active duty as a member of the U.S. Army Special Forces. While serving three tours in Afghanistan, Johnson…
When Textron Aviation asked the Stefanopoulos family if they would consider changing their order for a Beechcraft King Air 350i to be the first customer to take delivery of the upgraded King Air 360, it was easy to say yes. The only question they had was why the company chose them since they are “just…
What started as a one-aircraft, father-and-son operated flight school in Waukesha, Wisconsin, 25 years ago is now a full service aviation company with 50 employees across three southeastern Wisconsin locations. Beyond flight training, Spring City Aviation offers maintenance on all types of general aviation airplanes, FBO services, aircraft sales, aircraft management and an all-King Air charter…
I’m on the telephone with Leslie J. Weinstein, who is calling from Idaho, where he lives and operates his business, True-Lock LLC, and a nonprofit he founded, Turtles Fly Too. He feigns surprise when I ask about the irony of learning that a sea turtle rescue is based in a landlocked state known for its…