The first King Air 250 in Australia to be fitted with Collins Fusion avionics has been put into service with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS).
King Air VH-MRQ will operate with the South Eastern Section of the RFDS providing clinic runs to rural and remote locations in NSW.
The Collins Fusion system is an upgrade of the Pro Line series, providing three large screens that operate by either touch-screen or point-and-click. Functions in the standard product offering include synthetic vision, interactive charts, real-time weather overlays, approaches and obstacles among many features.
The aircraft was secured for the RFDS by local aircraft brokers and King Air specialists Nextant Pacific, who handled importing, ferrying and registering the aircraft in Australia. According to RFDS General Manager – Aviation and Strategic Development, David Charlton, using Nextant made life easier when it came to buying the aeroplane.
“The aircraft selection, modification and delivery process has been outstanding,” he said “We have developed new capability for aircraft sourcing.”
Nextant Pacific Managing Director John Oppenheim said his company was pleased to be able to smooth the path into service for the RFDS.
“The aeromedical business is a key focus area for Nextant Pacific, so we are delighted that the RFDS have chosen to partner with us for their important work,” he said.
“We have chosen to specialise in the acquisition, sales and brokerage of the King Air aircraft. We were confident from our first meetings with the RFDS that we could add value and save costs for them when it comes to purchasing the Beechcraft King Air product.”
In the past year, the South Eastern Section of the RFDS facilitated almost 4500 clinics, took over 5500 telehealth calls, had over 49,100 patient contacts and transported almost 8200 patients.