The 2013 NBAA Convention completed Thursday as another successful event in the books. With over 1,100 exhibitors and 25,425 people in attendance, countless King Air related businesses expressed high hopes for the near future and 2014.
As we planned to connect and cover the event for King Air related news for the event, we knew it was going to be a busy three days. This proved true as we continued to connect with new businesses in the market as the show was closing its doors Thursday afternoon. “We could have realistically done this for another two days to reach each business and person there,” said Danny Carpenter for KingAirNation.
When it comes to upgrades and modifications within the King Air market, most are familiar with Blackhawk Modifications, Inc., a worldwide aircraft performance and engine upgrade company specializing in the King Air 90 and 200 models. During NBAA, Blackhawk announced a purchase of the XP135A upgrade for a King Air F90 owner, Emmerson Daily. “NBAA is the perfect place to connect with people and help the market see the advantages of Blackhawk’s upgrades,” quoted Bobby Patton, Vice President of International Sales.
Rockwell Collins, a leader in avionics and information technologies, had their Pro Line Fusion integrated flight deck on display at the show. “We’ve had excellent feedback from our customers which love how the system looks and operates. We can’t wait to get it into service,” said Joe Razo, Marketing Manager for the Pro Line 4, 21 and Fusion. Additionally, Rockwell is proud to have received 5 awards for their innovations. Keep an eye on KingAirNation.com for more details on all King Air applicable products from Rockwell Collins.
GlobalParts.aero was exhibiting in bold colors this year, pink to be exact. Globalparts had taken a role in “support” that we hadn’t seen at NBAA before. For each person that took a survey at their booth, the company would donate directly to Breast Cancer Research. “The show was so meaningful to us this year by being able to support Breast Cancer Awareness and the feedback was incredible,” said Globalparts Vice President and COO, Malissa Nesmith. Globalparts.aero has also recently released their mobile solution for parts support with an app for the Apple iPhone and iPad and the Android. You can submit RFQ’s, update or change profile settings, search inventory and access over 78,000 unique parts in stock and ready to ship, all from a mobile device.
A company coming on strong in the King Air market is Centex Aerospace Inc. Centex offers STC modifications and replacement parts for the King Air in addition to engineering and certification services. Some of their STC’s promoted at NBAA included the HALO 250 which raises the maximum take off weight of any 200 series King Air from 12,500 to 13,420. On display at their exhibit was their new Saddle Tanks STC for the King Air 90. The product increases the max takeoff weight to 10,500, extends range to over 500 nautical miles and has an optional fuel-storage combination of 90 gallons of usable fuel plus 12 cubic feet of storage space. More information to come on this STC on KingAirNation.com soon.
Another benefit to being at the NBAA Convention besides connecting with those that exhibit, are those King Air related business and individuals that simply attend the show to connect with others. One of those companies was Winner Aviation, a fixed based operator, MRO and private charter department from Youngstown, Ohio. Winner’s history takes them back before the King Air was ever produced but they are also taking huge leaps to reach the King Air community. At the beginning of this month, Beechcraft partnered with Winner Aviation to put on a customer event at their facility. A newer King Air 350i from Beechcraft was on display as well as additional aircraft from Winner. “It’s important to us that these operators know what we are capable of and we’re excited to use KingAirNation as a platform for this,” said Neil Gallagher, Vice President of Aircraft Maintenance.
We certainly didn’t reach all the King Air related companies at the show but sure hope to connect with them soon. You can trust that KingAirNation.com will be your source for all King Air related news. If you work in a King Air related business and want to reach out to us to connect or with news and information about your organization, you can email us at info@kingairnation.com/wordpress.
The 2014 NBAA Convention will take place in Orlando, Florida from October 21st to 23rd. KingAirNation will be represented there.
