Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

Miami, Florida-based Aeronautical Engineers, Inc. (AEI) has launched a passenger-to-freighter conversion program for the Bombardier CRJ100 and CRJ200 regional jets, the company announced Thursday. Just named a Bombardier licensed third-party supplemental type certificate (STC) provider, AEI plans to make the conversion available to its worldwide network of authorized conversion centers once the FAA issues the STC for the conversion. AEI expects the initial certification to take two years and plans to certify the program with the FAA, Transport Canada, EASA, China’s CAA and Russian authorities.


Marketed as the CRJ100 and CRJ200 Special Freighter (SF), the airplanes would carry a 6.7 metric ton payload and feature a 94-inch-wide-by-77-inch-high main deck cargo door and an Ancra cargo loading system capable of hauling pallets, containers or bulk loaded material. Measuring 1,864 cu ft, the CRJ100/200 SF’s cabin would carry 10,000 pounds of freight 1,735 nm and a 15,000-pound payload 800 nm.


AEI plans to convert the main deck to a Class “E” cargo compartment and install a dual vent door system, a rigid 9G barrier and aluminum lightweight plugs in place of the cabin windows.


“As with many successful freighter conversion programs in the past, the CRJ100 and CRJ200 aircraft have now entered the zone of conversion,” said AEI vice president of sales and marketing Robert Convey. “This means that the oldest CRJ100 and CRJ200 aircraft can be acquired at a cost that is conducive to conversion.”


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