The 411 on 701

by Pat Kremer, Vice President of Technical Operations

Prior to coming to Ameriflight, our aircraft served the public by carrying passengers to and from hundreds of destinations, culminating thousands of accumulated flight hours. Once relieved of passenger duty for faster, larger aircraft, they were found to be great for delivering cargo. After purchasing and converting the aircraft for freight operations, Ameriflight excitedly put them to work.

One of the best built aircraft of all time is the Beech 1900. Sibling of the ultra-safe and famous Beech King-Air corporate aircraft, the 1900 started life as a 19-seat passenger aircraft. It was the first of its kind designed for short to medium trip length, turboprop reliability, and high altitude operation pressurization. Ameriflight currently operates 25 Beech 1900Cs in all freight configuration.

One of our 1900s, N31701, is the second Beech 1900C off the assembly line (serial number UB-2) and was built in 1984. We purchased this aircraft and put it into cargo service in 1995. Recently, we moved “701” from its long-time home in our Caribbean operations to the mainland. Before it could be reassigned in our North American system, it needed a bit of T.L.C. Our outstanding Sheet Metal Repair/Fabrication Team from our Burbank Repair Station replaced the entire “belly” skin of the aircraft, performed structural inspections, and replaced structural significant items in preparation for a brand new paint job!

The team, led by Bertin Castro (’05), included Alfonso Orona (’84), Isidro Chavarin (’09), Ivis Blanco Cruz (’06) and Marcelo Palma (’06) with support from DFW MX. Performing these repairs is as much an art as it is a science, complex and difficult enough to complete at your home base. The Burbank team met the challenge and performed a flawless execution of the repairs at our DFW facility. “701” is now ready for continued service, thanks to our Ameriflight Burbank Sheet Metal Team!

Burbank Sheet Metal Team