Page 12 - Preview

David spent weeks working with the Tampa team on creating a pilot-friendly panel that flowed well aesthetically and functionally, testing it out with pilots of varying skill levels to gather feedback before finalizing the design.
“We couldn’t put the Garmin G1000 NXi in it because they don’t have certification for it, so we did G600 TXi and G750 TXi and then we put everything internal. There’s nothing on the panel, everything went remote. With autopilot, weather and turbulence avoidance, the avionics are as good as what we have in our Citation CJ4,” he said, adding that 350 pounds of wiring was removed from the F90.
Shawn put her passion for interior design to use throughout the interior as well as on the exterior paint.
“We wanted this to feel like a brand-new airplane, from the second you walked up to it to climbing into it,” she said. “My goal was a look that was beautiful and luxurious, something that 99.9% of people would instantly love. I think we achieved that with both the interior and exterior designs.”
They completely reconfigured the cabin, redoing the bulkhead, installing a side-facing fifth seat and adding a flushing water closet in the back. All soft goods were replaced along with new cabinetry, window shades and seats featuring the design and materials of current
production aircraft plus hidden headrests and double diamond quilt inserts. The Edgingtons chose a custom mix from Textron Aviation’s King Air Refresh interior schemes, from a carpet with a subtle square pattern to help hide wear to a window line and headliner in custom- colored urethane that brings brightness to the cabin.
“We use our airplanes for mostly business so we also wanted all the conveniences of an office to extend into the aircraft while traveling,” said Shawn, mentioning LED lighting and AirText connectivity as examples.
Exterior upgrades included installing the American Aviation Pitot Cowling System and Aerodynamic Speed Stacks and painting the aircraft to match the patented scheme and color palette the Edgingtons designed for their 2017 CJ4.
Enjoying a ‘New’ Airplane
The Edgingtons’ children are grown and they now have Kahoots the French bulldog and Max the golden retriever who is the insurance agency’s mascot known as Lightning Max. They flew their CJ4 to Wichita in mid-April for a LA-190 delivery ceremony. David and Harden had flown the airplane from Tampa to Wichita, but this was the first time they were seeing the airplane in person since it was painted.
Textron Aviation’s sales and marketing teams positioned the F90 inside a hangar at their west Wichita headquarters, with dramatic lighting including the aircraft’s original Beechcraft 50th anniversary insignia projected onto a nearby wall. The couple walked into the hangar with their French bulldog while the song “Hell of a View” by Eric Church played. They circled the airplane and said they were in absolute awe.
“It looks perfect to me,” David told those gathered. “This is better than taking delivery of a brand-new airplane.”
The airplane had one more stop – back to Tampa for the installation of the flushing water closet custom built by AvFab – and by the end of April, the Edgingtons were able to start flying the F90.
After looking for the right King Air for eight years, David said waiting eight months to start flying it regularly wasn’t a problem.
“Being in construction, I was realistic about the timeframe,” he said. “Everything had to be built and they had to search for the materials, which today isn’t easy no matter what industry you’re working in. I was very happy with the timeframe, and beyond happy with the final result.”
He noted that they had just two minor squawks when they picked up LA-190 in Tampa before flying it to Wichita for paint.
“They did an incredible job,” David said. “To make something that old look brand-new is incredible.” KA
10 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
AUGUST 2024