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CAV Aerospace converting first Caravan to TKS Ice Protection
SALINA,
Kan. October 26 2010 - CAV Aerospace, Inc., headquartered at the Salina
Aviation Service Center began single-engine turboprop Cessna Caravan TKS™
ice protection installation this week.
Standing
in front of the first Caravan installation underway, CAV Aerospace
President Kevin Hawley explained a little of what it took to get to this
point.
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SAA photo.
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"We
originally developed and installed the system in this very hangar basically
in the same spot," he said over the buzzing of power tools.
"Before we were in our current facility, we could not have fit this
aircraft into the two hangars we had, so we absolutely had to have this
space. The Salina Airport Authority has helped us in many
different ways. When we started this process they got us all the
space and support we needed to get it going. Any kind of equipment
you could imagine, if we needed it we were able to get our hands on
it. We installed the original prototype of the TKS System on the
aircraft provided by Cessna. That was completed in early 2008.
Then Cessna took that data and in essence resubmitted that approved data
for certification."
FedEx
Express jumped on the new ice protection availability right away and
partnered with Yingling Aviation to upgrade their fleet of approximately
250 Cessna 208 Caravans with TKS Ice Protection Systems in Wichita.
"FedEx
really does their homework and when they take something like this on its
like they are giving it their seal of approval," explained
Hawley. "It's really a validation of our TKS system."
With the
FedEx Express fleet being taken care of in Wichita, the rest of the more
than 1,200 Caravans in operation today can visit CAV Aerospace's North
American Headquarters, here in Salina to upgrade to TKS.
The first
of these conversions is underway on a Caravan owned by Superior Airways, a chartered air
service based in Red Lake, Ontario,
Canada at Red Lake Airport.
"This
one used to have a booted system," said CAV Aerospace
salesman
Jeff Holden. "The new owner of the plane, recognizing how well
TKS works, came to us and said 'can you take that off and put on your
system?' So what it really means to us it that people are recognizing just
how effective TKS is as an ice protection system."
Superior
flies cargo, fishermen, hunters, firefighters, First Nations individuals,
medical patients and law enforcement to and from remote communities to the
north in Northwestern Canada.
The 27
First Nations communities north of Red Lake have only ice road access for a
six-week period during the winter and the extreme arctic weather conditions
and terrain are unforgiving. Red Lake is the northern terminal of the
highway system in the region. Consequently, the flights provided
year-round by Superior Airways are a crucial life preserver for area
inhabitants.
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