Cover article for May 2014 King Air magazine

A MAGAZINE FOR THE OWNER/PILOT OF KING AIR AIRCRAFT

MAY 2014 • VOLUME 8, NUMBER 5 • $4.50

Mission Control Dynamic Aviation’s 120-plus King Airs Serve Government and Private Industry

Truly D

A row of King Airs stands ready to serve. With 125 King Airs, Dynamic Aviation owns one of the largest privately owned fleets of King Airs.

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y Dynamic

by MeLinda Schnyder

W

ith one of the largest privately owned fleets of Beechcraft King Airs, family-owned

Dynamic Aviation has mastered the art of efficiently modifying turboprop as well as jet aircraft for roles ranging from aerial application to surveillance in order to support the U.S. departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense and Interior; state and local governments; and private industry.

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What They Do In the first three months of 2014, Dynamic Aviation had dispatched Beechcraft King Airs to Texas to drop treats filled with the rabies vaccine for wildlife, to Florida to spray for mosquitos and to the Gulf of Mexico to assist with tracking and cleanup of 168,000 gallons of oil spilled when a ship and barge collided in Galveston Bay. And those are just the high-profile missions within the aerial application division, one of five business segments of Virginia-headquartered Dynamic Aviation.

The company owns more than 140 aircraft and employs about 650 aviation professionals – including roughly 150 pilots and 230 mechanics – at 18 operational locations in five countries across three continents.

“We excel at delivering special-mission aviation solutions that support our customers with quick turnaround, creative aircraft modifications and operational excellence,” said Michael Stoltzfus, Dynamic Aviation’s president and CEO. Those customers include national defense, military intelligence, federal agencies, state and local governments, non-profit research organizations and private companies needing mission-modified aircraft, experienced flight crews and maintenance services.

A Family of Aviation Pioneers Karl D. Stoltzfus Sr. is the chairman of Dynamic Aviation and his son Michael, as mentioned above, is president and CEO – both have

Worldwide Bases & Operational Ex 18 Worldwide Bases • Americas US & Territories • Virginia (2) • Maryland (1) • Mississippi (1) • California (4) • Florida (1) • Idaho (1) • Oregon (1) • North Carolina (1) • Puerto Rico (1) Panama (1) • Middle East Saudi Arabia (1) • Southwest Asia Afghanistan (2) • Far East Malaysia (1) 4 • ­KING AIR MAGAZINE

Operational Experience in 56 Countries • North America:3 • Latin America: 19

• Caribbean: 6 • Europe: 8

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logged more than 5,000 flight hours. The family’s aviation roots go back to Karl’s father, Chris D. Stoltzfus, who began to fly in 1934.

Karl began working for his father in 1958 and earned his pilot’s license in 1960. He flew Stearmans, Beech 18s and Douglas DC-3s, also learning to maintain and modify those models along with Grumman TBMs, Chase C122 Box Cars and B-17s.

While at school at Eastern Mennonite College in Harri­ sonburg in 1967, he and his twin brother Ken started K&K Aircraft, mostly developing air­craft system training aids.

Ken left the business in 1973.

The company purchased a fleet of Beech 18s and Douglas DC-3s that were tanked for aerial application and began operating throughout the United States.

K&K purchased Bridgewater

nal Experience

ries

• Asia: 5 • Australia

• Africa: 11 • Middle East: 3

The family-owned company operates out of 18 locations in five countries across three continents MAY 2014

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A Dynamic Aviation King Air C90 makes smoke so the tanker aircraft in trail behind it knows where to begin fire retardant application.

Airpark and moved the business there in 1974, won a government contract to spray for gypsy moths in 1982, developed the company’s first sterile insect aerial release program in 1992 and continued to grow the business.

Michael began his aviation career in 1990 as president and co-founder of De-Ice Systems International. He joined Dynamic Aviation in 1992 as base manager of its California Medfly Program.

In 1994, he took a position as a flight engineer for Northern Air Cargo. Two years later, Michael returned to Dynamic Aviation, rising through the ranks to become its president and CEO in 2006.

Putting the “dynamic” in Dynamic The turning point that allowed the business to significantly broaden its scope of operations came in 1996, when the company purchased the United States Army’s fleet of 124 non-pressurized Beechcraft BE-90s, dubbed U-21s. It made such an impact, in fact, that the following year K&K was renamed Dynamic Aviation.

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K&K was one of six bidders answering a request for proposals issued by the Army, which was asking for one new Beechcraft 1900D in exchange for the U-21s that had been used primarily for VIP and liaison transport. K&K offered to provide the 1900D and additional monies to make some modifications to the airplane, and the Army accepted the offer.

Then came the hard part of the acquisition – getting the U-21s certified by the FAA. “The aircraft is listed on the FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 3A20 along with A90s, B90s and C90s.

There was a factory list of modifications that had to be performed in order for the aircraft to be certificated with a Standard Airworthiness Certificate. In addition, the FAA ACO certification office in Wichita, Kansas had to approve a maintenance program.

Interesting to note that Beech representatives told all potential buyers that the aircraft could not be certificated. That probably benefited us as we were certain they could be,” said Karl Stoltzfus.

“All of the U-21s we bought were King Air Model 90s,” he continued. “Some of the aircraft are still MAY 2014

equipped with their original PT6A-20 engines, however many are now equipped with upgraded -28 or -34 engines. We received a large inventory of spares from the Army along with the aircraft, and in the years since have acquired substantial additional spares from many sources around the world including the factory. Fortunately, many parts on the aircraft are still available from the factory.”

None of the U-21s are used for personnel transport; all have been modified by Dynamic Aviation to perform special missions in the company’s five business segments.

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Bathed in the early morning sun, a Dynamic Aviation King Air 90 awaits its preflight before taking off on a medfly dispersal mission. The tubes visible from the belly of the aircraft are used to disperse genetically engineered sterile male flies that will produce no offspring, helping control the population of Mediterranean fruit flies, which can destroy fruit crops.

The Business Segments With the addition of one of the largest privately owned fleets of King Airs, Dynamic Aviation spent the second half of the 1990s expanding its operations to include fire management and airborne data acquisition. In 2004, the company outfitted its first aircraft for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions.

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A Dynamic Aviation pilot flies a King Air 90 applying simulated oil dispersant during a joint training mission with the U.S. Coast Guard off the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Today, ISR is the largest of the company’s five segments:  Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Types of missions: persistent surveillance, counter IED (improvised explosive devices), electronic attack, counter narcotics

 Sterile Insect Technique Types of missions: fruit fly control, screwworm eradication

 Fire Management Types of missions: lead planes, air attack

Aaron Lorson is an executive vice president who started his Dynamic Aviation career as a pilot flying turboprop Twin Beech 18s and King Airs with the sterile insect technique team in California. An alternative to chemical insecticide applications, this technique releases genetically engineered sterile male flies that will produce no offspring when they mate with female flies in the wild. The method has successfully controlled the Mediterranean fruit fly and the Mexican fruit fly, which can destroy fruit crops.

 Aerial Application Types of missions: oil spill response, mosquito control, rabies control, gypsy moth control

Aaron explained that the King Airs used for these missions have the technology needed to ensure precise release locations and weather monitoring and the airplane’s cabin provides the space for

 Airborne Data Acquisition Types of missions: remote sensing, aerial photography, geophysical survey

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crew and large metal boxes containing around five million insects. They are released at altitudes ranging from 1,000 to 12,000 feet via speciallydesigned chutes in the aircraft’s belly.

Another unique mission is the oral rabies vaccination program. A team from Dynamic Aviation spends several weeks every year dropping from King Airs vaccine-filled packets that look like treats to fox, coyote, opossum, skunk and other wild animals. Eating the treat protects the animals and helps control and stop the spread of rabies in the United States.

Dynamic Aviation is often a partner to federal, state and local governments when public health emergencies occur. During one of the nation’s most severe outbreaks of West Nile Virus, in 2012, Dynamic Aviation provided a team of 10 people and four King Airs to complete an aerial spray operation covering more than 100,000 acres in and around Dallas, Texas. The company said a report released by the Center for Disease Control showed that the mission reduced targeted mosquito populations by an estimated 93 percent.

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The Current Fleet “The U-21s were unique aircraft built for the Army and they are very well-suited for the modifications we make and the payloads we are carrying,” said Aaron, who estimates about 3,000 of his total 4,500 flight hours have been in King Airs.

While the unpressurized models from the Army made a huge impact on Dynamic Aviation’s business, they aren’t the only King Airs in the company’s collection. Its current fleet includes 104 King Air 90 models and 21 King Air 200 aircraft. The King Air 90s include pressurized (E90) and unpressurized (A90) versions and some with nacelle tanks. The King Air 200s include versions with low gross weight (A200), high gross weight (BE-200T), tip tanks/ nacelle tanks and cargo door.

The King Airs play a role in every one of Dynamic Aviation’s five business segments.

“The stability of the King Air makes it ideal for ISR missions and its versatility makes it ideal for so many other missions,” Aaron said. “The King Air is a known and trusted airplane around the world,

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All levels of aircraft maintenance are performed in the hangars at Dynamic Aviation.

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and that allows us to serve a wide range of customer missions with one aircraft.”

Dynamic Aviation’s fleet remains dynamic because the company will acquire and fly whatever types and models of aircraft its customers need.

Earlier this year, the company took delivery of a Cessna CitationJet, its first non-prop jet engine aircraft. It will be used as a lead plane in the fire management segment, supporting Dynamic Aviation’s customer, the Bureau of Land Management, by helping lead the large air tankers that drop water or fire retardant on wildfires.

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Beyond the King Airs and the CitationJet, the company also owns 17 Bombardier Dash-8 100/200/300 series aircraft and two Boeing 767-200 aircraft.

Full-service Operation Dynamic Aviation is headquartered on its privately owned, public use airport in Bridgewater, Va., where it has 400 acres and plenty of room for office, shop and hangar space. Facilities include an operations center; four large hangars to accommodate overhauls, aircraft modifications, heavy maintenance and line maintenance; an FAA-approved Part 145 repair station; and two King Air flight simulators.

The company’s heavy maintenance and modification center has 40,000 square feet of production space for machining, sheet metal, welding, avionics, composites and engine repair.

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KING AIR SPECIALISTS Our motto is:

“Excellence at a fair price”

“We have one of the largest King Air parts inventories in the world which allows us to maintain exceptional dispatch reliability,” said Karl.

All modifications comply with appropriate safety of flight and airworthiness certifications, including U.S. Army airworthiness releases (AWRs), Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) and FAA certification requirements for Part 23 (King Air) and Part 25 (Dash-8) aircraft.

“Our goal is to serve our customers and their partners by working to understand their problems and help them find solutions. We offer highly responsive and customized solutions utilizing aerial platforms,” said Michael. “Whether their challenges are on a large or small scale, we find creative ways to meet even the most challenging requirements.” KA MAY 2014

• Inspections • Major & Minor Repairs

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Home of King Air Guru Dean Benedict aka “Dr. Dean” Maintaining King Airs since 1975

HONEST AIR BEECHCRAFT

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Located in Southern Nevada on KBVU Boulder City Municipal Airport

702-798-1800

Mail: P.O. Box 90759; Henderson, NV 89009-0759 Delivery: 1421-C Airport Road; Boulder City, NV 89005

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