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The
First Beechcraft King Air Celebrates 40th Anniversary
Clarksdale, Mississippi - October 30th is a significant
day in aviation history. It was this day, forty years ago, that
the first Beechcraft King Air twin turboprop received its manufacturing
plate. This manufacturing plate, dated October 30, 1963, designated
this particular aircraft as Beechcraft King Air serial number
LJ-1, and at that moment, it became a part of aviation history
and the first in a long production run of King Airs that has lasted
for forty years and produced 6,000 aircraft. King Air LJ-1, which
was used by Olive Ann Beech (the wife of Beech Aircraft Company
founder Walter Beech) as her personal corporate transport, now
resides at The Hangar, Inc. in Batesville, Mississippi. A restoration
process has begun that will culminate in an historic around-the-world
flight in August of 2004, to be flown by a number of celebrity
pilots. Following that flight, King Air LJ-1 will be donated to
a prestigious American air museum.
Alex Major, a Mississippi native and entrepreneur, has owned King
Air LJ-1 since 1985 when his company purchased the aircraft for
corporate transport. In 1990 Major brought in a partner, Dr. Fred
Pasternack, to assist in funding the continued preservation of
this piece of aviation history. Major and Pasternack intend to
transfer the ownership of King Air LJ-1 to the King Air Foundation,
a Mississippi-based nonprofit corporation being formed to solicit
donations to restore the aircraft to near factory new condition.
They also hope to pay for the around-the-world flight, as well
as the expenses associated with shooting a documentary film with
these donations. They plan to sell to a documentary film about
the history of the King Air, the restoration of King Air LJ-1
and the around-the-world flight to the Discovery Wings Channel,
with all proceeds from the sale going to the King Air Foundation.
It is hoped that the King Air LJ-1 Project has the right combination
of aviation history, compelling charitable causes and Hollywood
glamour to enable the King Air Foundation to raise tens of millions
of dollars in donations over the next year.
Award-winning Hollywood actor and Mississippi resident, Morgan
Freeman, has agreed to fly one of the 30 legs (he has chosen a
leg in Russia) of the around-the-world trip. It is the King Air
Foundation's intention, to extend invitations to celebrity pilots
from all walks of life. All of the celebrity pilots that join
the flight team will have the unique opportunity of flying King
Air LJ-1 as pilot-in-command for a 1,000 nautical mile leg, which
will take approximately four hours with King Air LJ-1's average
air speed of 250 nautical miles per hour. The 30,000 mile around-the-world
trip is expected to take 45 days to complete and is being planned
for August 2004.
Two to four of the additional seats in the aircraft will be auctioned
and raffled off over the next six months so that the winners can
chose which celebrity pilot they want to fly them as a passengers
in this historic airplane on a once-in-a-lifetime flight. Proceeds
from the auctions and raffles will go towards the cost of the
project and to medical research.
The Beech King Air, as the airplane is generally known throughout
the industry, changed the face of corporate aviation. The King
Air's arrival on the market provided the first opportunity for
owners and operators to fly single pilot, turbine powered, pressurized,
above the weather, in heated and air conditioned comfort for a
reasonable amount of money. The first model 90 King Airs sold
for a little more than $300,000 in 1964. A new Raytheon Beechcraft
King Air C90B purchased today costs the buyer more than three
million dollars.
In the 40 years since King Air LJ-1 rolled out of Beechcraft Plant
1 (now Raytheon Aircraft Corporation) located on Beech Field in
Wichita, Kansas, there have been more than 6,000 of these reliable,
efficient, roomy twin turboprops built. Approximately 5,000 are
still flying around the world today. The King Air is believed
to be the most successful turbine-powered airplane in history
and the only twin turboprop to have been in constant production
for forty years. Beech King Airs fly for 21 different national
governments and are owned and operated in more than 76 countries
around the globe.
The restoration of King Air LJ-1 is expected to take six months.
Many of the vendors that have supplied parts to the King Air production
line since the beginning of King Air series production have contributed
or agreed to contribute parts to the restoration process. In many
cases being a supplier to the King Air production line provided
the foundation for these companies to grow into the significant
aerospace companies they are today. Early on in the project, PPG
Industries saw the wisdom of being recognized as the sole supplier
of windshields to the King Air production line, and generously
contributed a new set of windshields to the restoration project.
Hartzell was another early vendor to support the project by contributing
a new set of propellers and spinners as was Engineered Fabrics,
who provided a complete set of fuel cells, all at no cost to the
project. More recently, Camp Systems has put King Air LJ-1 on
their computerized maintenance program as their contribution and
Goodrich has agreed to supply and install wheels and brakes as
well as a new set of engine inlet and wing deice boots. Every
vendor that has been approached has enthusiastically agreed to
contribute parts and/or services to the restoration effort. These
vendors have recognized and embraced the opportunity the King
Air LJ-1 Project provides to honor the history and legacy of Walter
and Olive Ann Beech, the venerable Beechcraft brand, and the world's
most popular turboprop aircraft - the Beechcraft King Air.
The King Air Foundation, a Mississippi nonprofit corporation,
is making application to become an organization exempt from federal
income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1986, as amended. Once this exemption is approved, all donations
to the King Air LJ-1 Project through the King Air Foundation will
be tax deductible to the full extent of the law. The officers
and directors of the King Air Foundation and the names of additional
celebrity pilots will be announced in future news releases.
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