KING AIR ON CALL

摘要

The hangar view from the first floor of 2Excel Aviation's Doncaster-Sheffield Robin Hood Airport facility might gladden the heart of any general or special purpose aviation enthusiast. When the author visited in early March 2020, a variety of Beechcraft King Air 200s and Piper PA-31 Navajos, a single Piper PA-28 Cherokee 'hack' and a Robinson R22, were clustered around one of 2Excel's two Boeing 727 anti-pollution oil spill spray aircraft. While the trijet inevitably dominated, there was no escaping the preponderance of red and white, worn by the 727 and 'spotter' Navajo with which it works in close concert, but most strikingly on two heavily modified King Air 200s and another Navajo. These latter three aircraft service 2Excel's contract with the UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA), Primarily tasked with search and rescue (SAR), the King Airs also carry a sensor suite that equips them for a wide variety of maritime reconnaissance missions.