C90 King Air Conversion

Isabel Goyer

Monday, August 10, 2009 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Refurbished 1979 King Air C90 Robert Goyer

Key Takeaways:

Older King Air C90s can be extensively refurbished to achieve performance, utility, and aesthetics superior to their original factory specifications, offering a viable alternative to new aircraft.
Cutter Aviation demonstrated this potential by transforming a neglected 1979 King Air C90 into a highly desirable aircraft through a comprehensive 30-day project.
The refurbishment involved significant upgrades, including Raisbeck's C90 Epic package (Blackhawk engines, quieter propellers, and structural mods for enhanced performance, speed, stability, and increased takeoff weight) and a modern Garmin G600 avionics suite, along with new paint and interior.
This project resulted in a King Air C90 with dramatically improved capabilities and a "new airplane" feel, successfully selling for an estimated $1.5 million, validating the value of strategic aircraft renovation.

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New King Airs are wonderful airplanes, but they do cost what new airplanes of that caliber cost. As with any new model, a factory-fresh King Air gives you a lot of things you can’t retrofit affordably, if at all, into a 20- or 30-year-old airplane. That’s why people keep buying new King Airs.

While there are a lot of mods available for older King Airs, the end result is not going to be an airplane that’s as good as a new one — as much as you might wish that to be true. What you can get is one that is, without question, better than it was back when it was new.