Originally Posted by
Usertim
As others have said , it is the maiden flight of this particular air frame ,not the type. The type joined operationally in 1987. Even the Ukrainians had a few m but they sold some back to russia, and scrapped the rest under the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program
Perhaps a misuse of "maiden", but by all accounts the first flight of this airframe in conditions where my previous company's King Airs would have been tucked up in a cosy hangar until spring.
Incidentally, ornithologists would refer to the paint scheme as its juvenile plumage.