Great Plains Air Expo Makes Stop in St. Louis: Plane Makers Show Off Latest Models

By Carmelo Turdo

The Great Plains Air Expo was held recently at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, MO as part of a travelling aircraft exhibition making its way across the Midwest. Even though the event was held in April this year, it still felt as hot as it did last year when it was held in June. The Expo was again hosted by Midwest Aviation Center, and included new aircraft from Hawker Beechcraft, Cessna, Piper, Cirrus, Diamond, Eclipse Aerospace and Pilatus. Here is a brief pictorial overview of the aircraft represented. Future posts will include detailed presentations of some of the aircraft available. Special thanks to Stephen Wilson and Heather Rider of Cessna, Mike Press and Ken Ross of Eclipse Aerospace, Jeff Sandusky of Cirrus and Keith House and Bob Fenton of Diamond Aircraft.

Midwest Aviation Center again hosted the Great Plains Air Expo

Cessna Citation Mustang "American Patriot"

Cessna 208B Grand Caravan

Hawker Beechcraft G58 Baron

Diamond Aircraft DA-20 and DA-40  

Cessna T206H Stationair

Piper PA-28-181 Archer III

Hawker Beechcraft C90GTI King Air

Cirrus SR22T, 5000th Cirrus produced

Eclipse Aerospace EA500 Total Eclipse

Piper PA-46-500TP Malibu

Pilatus PC-12/47E

Great Plains Air Expo Brings Variety of GA Aircraft to Spirit of St. Louis Airport

A variety of aircraft were on display today at the

By Carmelo Turdo

Midwest Aviation Center at Spirit of St. Louis Airport today. Aircraft manufacturers brought their new demo aircraft to the event, and the crews were on hand to discuss the merits of their products. It was as if the general aviation show room appeared on the ramp, and new airplanes do smell good, too! Below are some examples of the aircraft on display.  Whether you can purchase an aircraft or not, please support general aviation as a national priority!

The Aviat A-1C Husky provides impressive performance and can operate almost anywhere. For more information, visit http://www.aviataircraft.com/husky_aircraft_overview.html.

The Hawker Beechcraft G58 Baron, YES that Baron, is still alive and kicking. This beautiful classic design offers comfort and modernized cockpit to this legendary piston twin. For more information, visit http://www.hawkerbeechcraft.com/beechcraft/baron_g58/.

Hawker Beechcraft also brought its B90 and B300 King Air twin turboprops as well. These luxurious twins are works of art. For more information, visit http://www.hawkerbeechcraft.com/beechcraft/king_air_c90gtx/ and http://www.hawkerbeechcraft.com/beechcraft/king_air_350i/.

Cessna brought its 208B Grand Caravan, the large turbo that is a versatile executive and cargo aircraft.  It comes in a variety of sizes and configurations, including floats. Also on the ramp were T182 Skylane and 162 Skycatcher. For more information, please visit http://www.cessna.com/index.html.



Cirrus brought an SR20 with all the bells an whistles. John Arnold, Cirrus commercial pilot and sales representative, discussed the advanced design and safety features of this best selling single engine piston aircraft. For more information, visit http://cirrusaircraft.com/sr20/ or contact John at jarnold@cirrusaircraft.com.

Other Aircraft on display included Diamond DA40 and DA42 (twin), Pilatus PC-12, Piper Archer, and Piper Mirage. For more information, visit http://www.kcac.com/Default.aspx.

Show Me Air Expo Showcases Business Aviation Products and Services in St. Louis, Part 2

By Carmelo Turdo

The Show Me Expo is now in progress (June 11-12) at the Midwest Aviation Center at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in Chesterfield, MO. The event was designed to augment the National Business Aviation Association’s annual convention by providing an opportunity to showcase business aviation aircraft, financing and airport operations at the local level. Spirit of St. Louis Airport is an ideal location, since it combines all the best qualities of a business aviation center in the Midwestern U.S. Experts from aircraft manufacturers, dealers, financing entities and airport management are on hand to encourage the resurgence of business aviation, and they are already making a good impression on the participants.

The Cessna Grand Caravan turboprop is one of the larger aircraft featured at the Expo, and one of the most versatile as well. Erik Swanberg, a Grand Caravan pilot with over 8,000 flying hours (3000 in Caravans), described the Grand Caravan as a go anywhere, do anything utility aircraft. It can fly in the Arctic, the tropics, and anywhere in between. A single pilot can economically fly the aircraft to accomplish varied missions, such as 9-10 seat air taxi, skydiving launch, cargo transport, and aide relief to remote areas with the same aircraft, with only about 20 minutes needed to reconfigure the interior between each new mission. It can takeoff and land in short distances using unimproved runways, and can be reliably maintained in the field. The smaller Caravan can even be configured with floats, with little reduction in speed.

Another Cessna product, the Citation Mustang, is also available for viewing. Pilot Brandy Hearting is visibly proud of her aircraft. The aircraft provides efficient single-pilot, four passenger executive-style travel without sacrificing comfort. Savings on fuel and servicing for the Citation Mustang are significant, considering many of the larger business jets are still used to carry 2-5 people on flights within 500nm. Service for the aircraft is readily available, whether from the Cessna Wichita, KS or Milwaukee, WI service centers, or from the nearest Authorized Service Station is located just across the river in Alton, Illinois, at St. Louis Regional Airport (KALN). The Citation Mustang provides turboprop efficiency with jet performance, taking away any excuses for waiting to upgrade.

Business aircraft manufacturers, including Cessna, Cirrus, Diamond, Hawker Beechcraft, Pilatus, Piper, Liberty, Daher-Socata, Aviat, Gobosh, Jabiru USA and KCAC were represented. Crews and salespersons are available to discuss how their aircraft serve the needs of business aviation customers. They are all professionals – courteous to all attendees and candid about the capabilities of their aircraft. Anyone interested in learning more about business aviation from real experts in their fields is highly encouraged to attend the Show Me Air Expo.