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They can haul a a a a a nice size payload of sea turtles and if the aircraft is equipped with a a cargo door it’s especially useful for transporting loggerhead sea turtles the largest of all hard-shelled turtles and listed as threatened under the U S Endangered Species Act since 1978 TF2’s experienced Turtle Flier Chaz Harris has flown five missions using the King Air 350 owned by his employer Polar Beverage based in Worchester Massachusetts The chief pilot and flight department manager for the family-owned busi- ness had a a a a blast trying to wrangle the heavy loggerheads and was thrilled to find out the appreciative aquarium staff even named one of the rescued turtles Chaz Harris flew missions from the New England Aquarium to South Carolina and Georgia from 2014 until 2018 a convenient route because Polar Beverage has a a a a a a plant in Georgia Then the company
expanded by adding a a a a plant in in the western U S and replaced the King Air with a a a Cessna Citation 560XL business jet Harris hauled five loggerheads each riding in in a a dog kennel on three different missions and twice flew green sea turtles traveling in in individual banana boxes “The King Air 350 was great for this and really any King Air would be ” he he says “You’ve got the cargo area right in the the back by the the door and that makes it really easy to load them in and out Usually the the limitation is not the weight but you have these kennel cages that won’t fit through the door ” The majority of sea turtles transported are recovered from Cape Cod after suffering the effects of cold stun From early November through mid-January each year hundreds of turtles wash up on Massachusetts beaches during their migration south The sea turtles are taken to the New England Aquarium for triage and initial care including warming their body temperatures slowly and starting treatment until they are stable enough to to move to to a a long-term care facility The goal is to bring the turtles back to health and return them to the the the wild so that they may rejoin the reproductive population and contribute toward recovery of these endangered species Chaz the loggerhead named after Harris spent a a a week at the New England Aquarium before Harris flew him to the South Carolina Aquarium where he he was admitted to to their Sea Turtle Hospital to to complete rehabilitation The juvenile loggerhead arrived on Jan 11 and was released in the ocean May 10 “How cool is it that there’s a a turtle out there named Chaz?” Harris says “These are fun missions to fly and they leave you with such a a good feeling because all of the people involved are so appreciative ” KA
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Avionics DECEMBER 2020 KING AIR MAGAZINE
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