Saudi Arabia orders 5 Beechcraft King Air Aircraft to Support Cloud Seeding Operations

Saudi Arabia bought five Beechcraft King Air turboprops to support its National Center for Meteorology program for cloud seeding.

The deal covers delivery of one Beechcraft King Air 360CHW (cargo door, heavy weight) and four Beechcraft King Air 260 aircraft produced by Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. company.

Textron Aviation said the contract was placed by AvMet International LLC (AvMet), based in Fargo, North Dakota.

AvMet and its partners Weather Modification International (WMI) and Fargo Jet Center (FJC) will work collaboratively to equip the four King Air 260 aircraft with a Cloud Water Inertial Probe (CWIP), Data Logger with aircraft tracking, and cloud seeding equipment. The King Air 360CHW will be rigged with Cloud Seeding equipment, a research laboratory and an instrument package for studying cloud physics and aerosols.

The aircraft will be modified at WMI’s headquarters in Fargo with sister company Fargo Jet Center LLC (FJC).  FJC’s Part 145 Repair Station, which is an authorized service facility for the family of Beechcraft King Air aircraft, teamed with WMI to certify the Federal Aviation Administration approved Supplemental Type Certificate modifications for cloud seeding and atmospheric research equipment. Together, Textron Aviation, WMI and FJC will provide the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Meteorology with the newest technologies in cloud seeding and atmospheric sciences instrumentation.