First RWMI DHC-6-300 Twin Otter Re-Life Fuselage, Wing Boxes, And Flight Control STCs
Ikhana Aircraft Services (Ikhana) announces the delivery of a DHC-6-300 Vistaliner Twin Otter aircraft modified with Ikhana’s RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Fuselage, RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Wing Boxes and RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Flight Controls Supplemental Type Certificates (STC) to Grand Canyon Airlines of Boulder City, NV.
Ikhana's RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Fuselage is an FAA approved Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) providing NEW 66,000 hours/132,000 cycles structural fatigue life to an otherwise life expired aircraft. “Our RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Fuselage STC returns full capital value back to a Twin Otter that would otherwise be salvage value,” states Mr. John Zublin, President/CEO of IKHANA. “This is exactly what the product was intended to do: provide a path to turning an aging fleet back into an essentially new aircraft.”
Alan Stephen, Vice President of Corporate Affairs for Grand Canyon Airlines states “We have a long relationship with the Ikhana team and its predecessor, R.W. Martin Inc., since development of the first Vistaliner aircraft. Incorporating the Ikhana Re-Life Fuselage STC helps Grand Canyon Airlines maintain both safety and value in our operation.”
The original DHC-6-100, -200, and -300 Series Twin Otters, produced from 1965 to 1988, have a fuselage fatigue life limit of 66,000 hours/132,000 cycles. The RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Fuselage STC, allowing NEW 66,000 hours/132,000 cycles of fatigue life, was awarded by the FAA in November of 2011 and is applicable to all of the DHC-6 Legacy Series Twin Otter airplanes. Ikhana’s predecessor, R.W. Martin Inc., modified the first DHC-6 Twin Otter into a Vistaliner in the mid 1980’s and has modified over forty (40) Twin Otters as Vistaliners. Ikhana has been a key provider of enhancements for the worldwide DHC-6 Twin Otter fleet with products including the RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Wing Box, RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Fuselage, RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Flight Controls, RWMI DHC-6 Re-Life Nacelles, increased gross weight, enhanced air conditioning, upgraded avionics, VIP amenities, cargo handling, camera hatches, paratrooper provisions, and integration of surveillance/patrol systems. Ikhana’s modifications support
a variety of customers in executive transport, regional/commuter airlines, and special missions operations.
Ikhana Aircraft Services, a DBA of Ikhana Group Inc., provides DESIGN - BUILD - FLY solutions to the aerospace industry through aircraft modifications, heavy maintenance, major repair, and critical parts manufacturing. Headquartered at the French Valley Airport (F70) in Murrieta, California, with satellite engineering offices adjacent to the Van Nuys Airport, Van Nuys, California, Ikhana holds FAA, EASA, and Transport Canada repair station approvals, FAA Parts Manufacturer Approval (PMA), and is a Viking Air Factory Endorsed Service Center. Ikhana has a proven reputation for developing unique engineered solutions across a wide variety of aircraft platforms and diverse customer base including extensive experience in the DHC-6 Twin Otter, King Air, and Gulfstream airframes.
(Ikhana Twin Otter image from file)