Thu, Jun 14, 2012
City Had Plans For A Cessna Grand Caravan
The Mayor of Anaheim, CA, has put the (air) brakes on the city's planned $2.2 million purchase of a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan. Mayor Tom Tait says he needs more information before he can approve the purchase.
The city had green-lighted the acquisition last month, saying there was a strong public safety case made for the purchase of the aircraft. But following a productions delay, the issue had to go before the council a second time. In the interim, some adverse media coverage from the Voice of OC, which bills its self as Orange County's Nonprofit Investigative News Agency, Mayor Tait said he needed to have some additional concerns addressed before he would again agree to the purchase.
The Voice of OC reports that police officials justified the plane saying it could also carry fire officials during emergencies, and that it would replace the 12-year-old helicopter that had "reached retirement age." Some helicopter mechanics told the news service that helicopters don't have a "retirement age," and that the Orange County Fire Authority was still using helos built in 1966. Police Chief John Welter said that it was an invalid comparison, as the police aircraft fly much more often than do the fire aircraft.
Operating costs for a the fixed wing Grand Caravan are about a third of a comparable helicopter, and it will carry more people further than a helo.
Funding for the purchase was to be from seized assets from drug raids, which must be spent for law enforcement. Welter said that the fund is particularly flush right now, due to an increase in asset seizures in recent years. (Cessna Grand Caravan file photo)
More News
Aero Linx: International Business Aviation Council Ltd IBAC promotes the growth of business aviation, benefiting all sectors of the industry and all regions of the world. As a non->[...]
"During the annual inspection of the B-24 “Diamond Lil” this off-season, we made the determination that 'Lil' needs some new feathers. Due to weathering, the cloth-cove>[...]
Also: Bushcat Woes, Hummingbird 300 SL 4-Seat Heli Kit, Carbon Cub UL The newest Junkers is a faithful recreation that mates a 7-cylinder Verner radial engine to the airframe offer>[...]
Also: Seaplane Pilots Association, Rotax 916’s First Year, Gene Conrad After a decade and a half of struggling with the FAA and other aero-politics, G100UL is in production a>[...]
Also: Martha King Scholarship, Montaer Grows, Textron Updates Pistons, FlySto The FAA is hiring thousands of air traffic controllers, but the window to apply will only be open for >[...]