Woolpert has purchased its second Beechcraft King Air 300 Turboprop twin-engine aircraft, increasing its U.S.-based fleet of owned and operated aircraft to eight and its overall fleet of manned and unmanned aircraft to 49. The King Air 300 is globally operable and has been customized to carry best-in-class topographic and bathymetric lidar sensors, framing cameras and push-broom imaging sensors owned by Woolpert and its government clients.
Woolpert Vice President Jonas Svoboda said the new King Air 300 can reach an altitude of 35,000 feet and has an effective range of 2,100 nautical miles. It is Woolpert’s fourth U.S.-based plane that has been issued an Airworthiness Release (AWR) certification to support U.S. Army contracts.
“We are currently collecting topo-bathy lidar and imagery over Alaska and Florida, promoting efforts to advance coastal resilience, storm-surge modeling, stormwater initiatives and navigation safety,” Woolpert Vice President Mark Smits said. “This aircraft is ideal for these collections, as well as for our projects mapping islands in the South Pacific to benefit international clients and multiple federal agencies and our larger lake and shallow water projects for the Canadian Hydrographic Service.”
The new King Air 300 recently completed modifications to become fully mission capable and rapid response ready to support Woolpert’s expanding international presence. Of the firm’s eight acquisitions since 2019, three of them have been international geospatial firms. The most recent acquisition was AAM, an Australia-based company that specializes in aerial mapping, surveying, GIS and the development of innovative geospatial processes and technologies. AAM has offices across New Zealand, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
“The new King Air 300s are investments that address the geographic reach of our business,” Woolpert Senior Vice President Joseph Seppi said. “They also support a growing variety of customer missions.”
