Converting Beechcrafts into freighters
Yingling Aviation, a Cessna, Beechcraft, and McCauley authorised affiliate founded 75 years ago, has announced an agreement with Alpine Air Express, an FAR Part 135 on-demand air cargo operator, to reconfigure and upgrade Beechcraft 1900D aircraft to boost the capacity, range, performance and versatility of the Alpine Air fleet. Alpine currently has 32 Beech 1900D’s and 72 aircraft in its fleet.
Yingling will utilise facilities in 2021 to convert the airliners into cargo haulers. Work on the first aircraft is already underway in Wichita, where the company is based, and the second aircraft arrived a few weeks ago.
The cargo conversion will raise the useful payload to 2,777 kg, increase the maximum range by 23% to 1,356 nm (2,510 km), and accelerate the maximum speed by 7%. (ah)