Dynamic Growth
The origins of business aviation post World War I and for two decades following World War II have been covered in recent editions of Australian Flying. I now turn to the very exciting period when turbine powered business aircraft began to change the way business is conducted throughout the world.
Manufacture of turbo-prop business aircraft commenced in the late 1950s with the Gulfstream GI, which paved the way for others to be introduced to the market in the 1960s and 1970s. These included the Beech King Air 90 in 1964 and Swearingen Merlin II in 1965. These were followed by Cessna 441 Conquest, Rockwell Commander 690, Piper Cheyenne, Merlin III/IV and Beech King Air 100 and Super King Air 200 in the 1970s.
During the 1960s,
