Makeover sheds years from aging Bell

February 26, 2008
Cabin interior and electronics, Aircraft

Phil and Lee Hixon, owners of the Palm Springs Air Museum in Southern California, recently took delivery of a refurbished 1980 Bell 206L-1 after completions, MRO and maintenance services provider Texas Aviation Services made a number of changes to it.

Employees replaced the Rolls-Royce 250C-28B powerplant with a C-30P version and installed new Garmin avionics–a GNS 530W GPS/navcom with moving map display and satellite weather. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company also added a new “ultra-plush” corporate interior and applied a custom design paint scheme. Other changes include the addition of Tech Tool windows, LED touch switches for interior lighting, an AFS air filter and Precise Flight’s pulsating landing light.

In a recent statement, the MRO company said, “Only the sharpest eyes will be able to differentiate this 1980 aircraft from a brand-new model.”

Texas Aviation Services occupies a 14,000-sq-ft facility at Meacham Field in Fort Worth. The company was founded in 1971 and specializes in civilian and military helicopter completions, retrofits, MRO avionics integration, overhaul and engineering.  

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