Textron Aviation is to supply five Beechcraft King Air twin-turboprops to Saudi Arabia for cloud-seeding operations via Fargo, North Dakota-based AvMet International.

To be used by the Middle Eastern country’s National Center for Meteorology, the five-aircraft fleet comprises a single cargo-door equipped King Air 360CHW and four King Air 260s.

King20360-c-TextronAviation

Source: Textron Aviation

Order includes a single King Air 360 which will be fitted with research equipment

AvMet and its sister companies Weather Modification International (WMI) and Fargo Jet Center will install the four King Air 260s with the necessary equipment for cloud seeding, in addition to which the King Air 360CHW will also be fitted with a research laboratory and an instrument package for studying cloud physics and aerosols.

Modification work will take place at WMI’s headquarters alongside with sister company Fargo Jet Center.

The two firms have teamed to gain US Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certification for the cloud seeding and atmospheric research equipment.

Dominic Perry is deputy editor of Flight International but also contributes extensively to flightglobal.com. Although specialising in the coverage of the helicopter industry, he has written on most topics in aerospace – be they commercial, defence or business aviation. In addition, there has been an increasing focus on the decarbonisation of the industry and zero-emission flight initiatives.View full Profile

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