A MAGAZINE FOR THE OWNER/PILOT OF KING AIR AIRCRAFT JANUARY 2019 • VOLUME 13, NUMBER 1 • $6.50 Polar Lifeline Keewatin Air and King Air B200s tackle challenging environment of Canadian Arctic A MAGAZINE FOR THE OWNER/PILOT OF KING AIR AIRCRAFT King January 2019 VolumeAir 13 / Number 1 2 14 20 27 EDITOR Kim Blonigen EDITORIAL OFFICE 2779 Aero Park Dr., Contents Traverse City MI 49686 Phone: (316) 652-9495 E-mail: [email protected] PUBLISHERS Dave Moore Village Publications 2 20 GRAPHIC DESIGN Polar Lifeline – Beechcraft – Rachel Wood PRODUCTION MANAGER Keewatin Air and King Air The Early Days Mike Revard B200s tackle challenging by Edward H. Phillips PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR Jason Smith environment of ADVERTISING DIRECTOR Canadian Arctic John Shoemaker 27 King Air Magazine by MeLinda Schnyder 2779 Aero Park Drive Value Added Traverse City, MI 49686 Phone: 1-800-773-7798 Fax: (231) 946-9588 12 E-mail: [email protected] Aviation Issues – 29 ADVERTISING ADMINISTRATIVE Technically ... 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Rates for one year, 12 issues: United States $15.00, King Air (ISSN 1938-9361), USPS 16694 is published monthly by Village Press, Inc., 2779 Aero Park Drive, Traverse City, Michigan Canada $24.00 (U.S. funds), all other foreign 49686. Periodicals Postage Paid at Traverse City, MI. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to King Air, Village Press Inc., P.O. $52.00 (U.S. funds). Single copies: United States Box 1810, Traverse City, MI 49685. Telephone (231) 946-3712. Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved. Copyright $6.50, Canada/Foreign $9.00. 2019, Village Publications. COVER PHOTO ADVERTISING: Advertising in King Air does not necessarily imply endorsement. Queries, questions, and requests for media kits should be directed to the Advertising Director, King Air, P.O. Box 1810, Traverse City, Michigan 49685. Telephone 1-800-773-7798. A spectacular view of the arctic Northern Lights over a Keewatin Air King Air B200 on the ramp in Whale MANUSCRIPTS: King Air assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, or art work. While unsolicited submis- Cove, Nunavut, Canada. sions are welcome, it is best to query first and ask for our Writer’s Guidelines. All unassigned submissions must be accompanied Photo Credit: Matthew Leslie, Keewatin Air staff. by return postage. Address queries and requests for Writer’s Guidelines to the editor. JANUARY 2019 KING AIR MAGAZINE • 1 Keewatin Air’s King Air B200, C-FZPW, on the ramp in Arviat, Nunavut. The company says the steadfast reliability and utility of the King Air is paramount to ensure residents can be transported efficiently and safely. (Keewatin Air staff) 2 • KING AIR MAGAZINE JANUARY 2019 Polar Lifeline Keewatin Air and King Air B200s tackle challenging environment of Canadian Arctic by MeLinda Schnyder anuary in Northern Canada is extreme: 24 hours of darkness J throughout most of the region, constant wind and several weeks of daily temperatures as low as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s also not unusual for the wind chill to drop temperatures as cold as minus 65 degrees during this month, which is one of the busiest for air ambulance provider Keewatin Air LP. It’s typically a busy start to the year for the Winnipeg-based company that will register 10,000 annual flight hours serving residents and travelers in the province of Manitoba and the Canadian Arctic territory of Nunavut – an area comprising 1,058,000 square miles, nearly four times the area of Texas. KING AIR MAGAZINE • 3 Keewatin Air operates a fleet of 12 air ambulance air- craft, including nine Beech- craft King Air B200 models, at seven stations throughout the region. Supporting the operations is a group of well- trained professionals. The company has 45 pilots and 45 aircraft maintenance design- ers strategically positioned throughout their northern bases of operations. Unlike many other air ambulance operators, they employ their own medical professionals and currently have about 65 registered flight nurses, re- spiratory therapists, critical and advanced care paramed- ics and psychiatric nurses. “You have to wonder if when Beechcraft engineers were designing the King Air Keewatin Air’s President/Accountable Executive Wayne McLeod back in the day, did they think someone was really (left) and Person Responsible for Maintenance (PRM) Jason going to fly their aircraft into minus 65 degrees Kendall stand beside one of the company’s King Air B200s. (John Kliewen, Keewatin Air staff) Fahrenheit and be loading patients on it and getting out of these short, gravel shale strips?” said John Kliewer, director of Business Development & Strategic Planning for Keewatin Air. KING AIR That’s exactly what Keewatin Air does. Performance that impressed company executives when they got their first King Air, in 1995, is simply routine and expected WINDOW INSERTS operation today. Still, they give credit to the King Air STC’D-PMA /FAA APPROVED platform for making it possible to grow the business What Is the Difference into today’s high-quality air service that provides safe, Between the G & D Aero Tinted Window Insert reliable and extensive 24-hour emergency air ambulance and the Polaroid Interior Window Insert? services for remote communities. The $$$$$ Cost “There are very few aircraft that you could put the kind of hours and cycles on it that we do and have such a reliable product,” said Wayne McLeod, a former chief pilot at Keewatin Air and now the firm’s president. “And all the way to the end of life for the airframe, right to 30,000 hours,” added Jason Kendall, Keewatin’s Person Responsible for Maintenance. Helping shape Canada’s medevac industry With the G & D Aero tinted window you have full time protection against the sun and the ability to Keewatin Air formed in 1971 to provide charter keep your passengers cool and comfortable. No services using one single-engine Cessna 185 aircraft need to make any adjustments to the windows and quickly expanded by adding a de Havilland Canada because the inserts work full time. DHC-2 Beaver. In the early days of the operation, Keewatin Air G & D AERO PRODUCTS 951-443-1224 would dispatch an airplane to a remote community to meet a nurse from the local nursing station, who would � 4 • KING AIR MAGAZINE JANUARY 2019 The hamlet of Qikiqtarjuaq, Nunavut, during winter 2018. The challenge of working in frigid weather and low light (the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon during the winter in Canada’s arctic) is what draws many people to the artic and Keewatin Air. accompany the patient on the airplane until the patient “To improve the quality of our services, and establish arrived at the receiving hospital or facility. Oftentimes, a network of team collaboration, Keewatin Air developed the medical equipment and supplies coming from the an aeromedical cross-training program for nurses and nursing station were not suitable for air transport. pilots, and also provided this same training to medical Another issue was that the nursing station would remain personnel in the community,” McLeod said. “These short-staffed for several days while staff was ferried collaboration efforts helped ensure proper and efficient back. The cost of overtime and transportation for the preparation of the patient for transport and improved the nurses in these situations threatened the future of the overall transportation experience for all stakeholders.” nursing stations. Over the next few years Keewatin rapidly evolved Sensing that this operational structure wasn’t while continually improving its operations, including sustainable and knowing that these remote northern creating an internal training program; developing communities needed the nursing stations, Keewatin comprehensive medevac policies, procedures and Air championed the idea with local authorities that the medical care protocols; producing a Total Quality airline versus the nursing stations could be responsible Management Program (TQMP) including an extensive for providing medical personnel. statistical data management program; and establishing an effective human resources program. The first Keewatin Air Medevac/Emergency Air Ambulance division was born in 1986 when the company Employing all staff required to provide air ambulance hired experienced registered nurses and purchased services is a different approach and is what sets Keewatin Air apart from other providers. proper air ambulance medical equipment. In 2003 Keewatin Air signed its first formal service contract “We find this allows us to set the bar high and provides to provide air medical services for the Government all of our staff – from maintenance to pilots to medical of Nunavut. This included providing flight nurses and crews – the understanding of what goes into a medevac establishing numerous northern bases to improve mission,” McLeod said. “Our pilots and medical crews reliability in the harsh Canadian Arctic. are cross-trained to develop an understanding of what 6 • KING AIR MAGAZINE JANUARY 2019 each other’s challenges and responsibilities are, allowing us to manage each flight for a better patient outcome.” Another key to creating a successful team is employee satisfaction, and one way Keewatin Air builds the longevity of its workforce is to allow employees to live anywhere in Canada.