WICHITA, Kan. (Dec. 22, 2020) – Textron Aviation Inc., announced today it has delivered a missionized Beechcraft King Air 350CER turboprop aircraft to the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Marine & Aviation Operations (OMAO). The aircraft joins a King Air 350CER aircraft delivered to NOAA in May 2009. The agency’s first King Air 350CER aircraft has flown coastal mapping and aerial survey missions and critical emergency response missions including photographic survey after earthquakes, oil spills, and numerous blizzards, tornados, floods and named hurricanes.
The Beechcraft King Air is designed and manufactured by Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company.
“We are honored the King Air 350CER aircraft continues to be the aircraft of choice to fill a variety of critical mission needs for NOAA,” said Bob Gibbs, vice president, Special Mission Sales. “The aircraft’s custom sensor port modification, combined with its extended range performance features, makes it a powerful and reliable platform to carry out the agency’s unique missions during critical times.”
With extended range capabilities, the King Air 350CER aircraft can collect critical information while remaining airborne for up to eight hours. The dual-sensor port modification allows simultaneous data collection from multiple on-board sensors. Optical grade glass plates in the sensor ports allow the cabin to remain pressurized or the optical plates can be removed, and the aircraft operated unpressurized.
The first Citation to benefit from this advanced service offering is the Cessna Citation CJ4 business jet with future expansion of the program to include
additional AReS II-equipped Cessna aircraft. Additional aftermarket flight data monitoring solutions are also in-work with solutions anticipated to roll out in 2021.
LNOAA’s fleet of manned aircraft is operated, managed and maintained by the Aircraft Operations Center (AOC), part of the agency’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations, located at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Lakeland, Florida.
About the King Air 350CER
The Beechcraft King Air 350CER aircraft is an extended range version of the King Air 350i twin-engine turboprop aircraft configured with an optional cargo door, resulting in enhanced mission flexibility. Two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A or optional factory installed PT6A-67A turboprop engines with Hartzell four blade propellers power the King Air 350CER aircraft, and a fully integrated Collins Aerospace Pro Line Fusion digital avionics suite provides pilot(s) with state-of-the-art touchscreen controls.
King Air leadership
Nearly 7,600 Beechcraft King Air turboprops have been delivered to customers around the world since 1964, making it the best-selling business turboprop family in the world. The worldwide fleet has surpassed 62 million flight hours in its 56 years, serving roles in all branches of the U.S. military and flying both commercial and special mission roles around the world.
Endless Special Missions Possibilities
When government, military and commercial customers want airborne solutions for critical missions, they turn to Textron Aviation. The company’s aviation solutions provide the high performance and flight characteristics required to address the unique challenges of special missions operations. With unparalleled quality, versatility and low operating costs, Textron Aviation products are preferred for air ambulance, ISR, utility transport, aerial survey, flight inspection, training and a number of other special operations.
###
About Textron Aviation
We inspire the journey of flight. For more than 90 years, Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. company, has empowered our collective talent across the Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker brands to design and deliver the best aviation experience for our customers. With a range that includes everything from business jets, turboprops, and high-performance pistons, to special mission, military trainer and defense products, Textron Aviation has the most versatile and comprehensive aviation product portfolio in the world and a workforce that has produced more than half of all general aviation aircraft worldwide. Customers in more than 170 countries rely on our legendary performance, reliability and versatility, along with our trusted global customer service network, for affordable, productive and flexible flight.
For more information, visit www.txtav.com | www.defense.txtav.com | www.scorpionjet.com.
About Textron Inc.
TTextron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Arctic Cat, Textron Systems, and TRU Simulation + Training. For more information, visit: www.textron.com
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements which may project revenues or describe strategies, goals, outlook or other non-historical matters; these statements speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.