Modifying airplanes that the original manufacturer got almost right has been a constant in general aviation. But lately, we call it something different: remanufacturing. And if any company is the Alpha dog of this process, it’s Cleveland-based Nextant Aerospace, which has had impressive success remanufacturing Beechjet 400As. Now it’s poised to repeat the trick with the popular King Air C90 series.
It’s no accident that Nextant has concentrated on Beechcraft products. The company is looking for durable, over-engineered airframes manufactured in relatively large populations. Both the 400A and certainly the King Air qualify, even if Nextant is picky about what airframes it will rework.