Page 5 - Volume 15 Number 12

Be a Part of Something
Great
King Air operators invited to help form largest peacetime airlift for Special Olympics athletes
Wby MeLinda Schnyder
ith 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 to Orlando, Florida, where they will compete in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games.
It’s a reachable goal with the help of Beechcraft owners. In 1999 and again in 2006, Cessna Aircraft Company topped 200 aircraft when organizing what was then called the Citation Special Olympics Airlift.
The June 2022 airlift will be the first since Cessna and Beechcraft became Textron Aviation and organizers are recruiting Beechcraft King Air, Premier and Beechjet models as well as Hawker aircraft alongside Cessna Citation business jets.
“We’re excited to welcome those folks in the family to participate for the first time,” Steve Sperley, vice president of sales for Textron Aviation, said. “We’re going big this year with a goal of more than 200 Doves, and if we get anywhere close to our goal we think we can reclaim the title of the largest peacetime airlift in the world.”
Dove is the call sign assigned to each registered aircraft so that the FAA can identify and prioritize all aircraft flying in the airlift.
DECEMBER 2021
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 3