“In recent years, Woolpert has frequently been tasked with two divergent missions — high-altitude imagery and lidar collections, and low-altitude bathymetric lidar collections,” Brian Albers, Woolpert’s chief pilot, said in a statement from the company. “While both of these missions are different, we’ve found they can be addressed with one aircraft.”
The non-pressurized, twin-turboprop F406 was built by Reims Aviation with Cessna. It was purchased by Woolpert this month and joins Woolpert’s fleet of six aircraft, the company said.
The firm did not say how much the plane cost.
Jonas Svoboda, Woolpert’s aerial acquisition discipline leader, said the F406 has more electrical capacity than most similarly-sized aircraft, providing a platform that can handle multiple sensors.
It also produces less vibration than a piston-driven aircraft, which will allow for more precise lidar and imagery collection and offer more horsepower overall, the company said.
Beavercreek-based Woolpert has 213 employees at its County Line Road headquarters and 609 total at 24 offices across the country.
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