Photos by Clint Goff
Every King Air pilot has been there. We are on a stable approach, the gear is down, the flaps are down, the power is set perfectly and the approach speed is dialed in with a perfect torque setting. We then look at the Caution/Advisory Panel and see the RVS NOT RDY amber caution light illuminated. There’s then the pause for the question that we all recognize, “Should I move the prop levers forward?”
Come on, admit it! You have landed with the prop levers back, set at whatever cruise setting you had for most of the flight, right? You know you were taught to push the prop levers forward during initial training, but you also know that to do so adds a bunch of noise, changes the stable approach you had set up so perfectly and is basically a pain in the rear. You’ve made the call to land with the prop levers at a cruise setting and noticed that the airplane landed just fine, no recognizable difference.
Then, you tried it again and had the same results. You noticed no real difference in the landing performance, so you tried it again and again and again – each time with no apparent difference. So, this has become your way of doing business when you are flying with no CFI, DPE or other credentialed accomplice onboard. You’ve drifted from what you were first taught and started a new practice that seems to work.
Training versus reality
When I train with a refresher training client, I usually have a spiel that includes, “Show me what you always do. Don’t put on a show for me.” I want my clients to show me their normal day-to-day way of doing business as opposed to doing it like they think I want it done. I give enough check rides as a DPE; refresher training is supposed to be a fun (maybe?) training event, not a check ride. It works much better if a client shows me what they always do instead of coming in with an examination mindset about refresher training.
I bet 50% of my refresher training clients who take my spiel seriously do not push forward the props on final approach. When I query them about it they say, “You did advise I show you what I always do, and I don’t always push those props forward.” I appreciate their honesty, and we usually end up with a nice discussion. I almost always mention a Tom Clements article in the July 2016 issue of King Air magazine.
Before we go any further, it needs to be said that I think Tom has done more for the King Air lineup of airplanes than anyone on the planet. His depth of writing, writing style and approachability have made him the go-to instructor for a half-century. You’ll never hear me counter Tom in anything. In fact, I have tried to emulate Tom’s approach to flight instruction every day, and I probably appreciate him more than any other instructor in any airframe. He figured out how to be relevant for half a century. He’s worthy of emulation!
In Tom’s article from July 2016, he writes that it is an acceptable practice to wait until after touchdown to push the prop levers forward on a normal landing. The key phrase in that guidance is “normal landing.” So, I began to include this practice in my King Air flying. I discovered that Tom was right, there was no difference in the landing experience if everything was normal. For a while, this became my normal practice.
Now, if things are not normal – if there is a short runway, a strong crosswind or a POH-guided flight control parameter – then absolutely ensure that the props are pushed all the way forward.
Improved performance
I began to wonder whether the pushing forward of the props was really required under normal conditions. What difference does it really make? Pushing the props forward is listed as a step in the POH, and we always follow the POH, right? Having the props full forward on climb causes the aircraft to have a slightly better climb rate, usually a 200-300 fpm difference in any King Air variant. But the noise level is certainly higher. Pick your King Air – it doesn’t seem to matter which model – a prop full forward climb translates into about 200-300 fpm better climb than a book-recommended prop climb setting, and there’s a lot more noise.
I value quiet props and I’ve grown as a pilot to climbing with the props pulled back significantly, usually at the lowest POH-allowed settings in the climb for that particular variant. But I value noise reduction, and I get to make the choices when I’m the pilot-in-command.
How can this improved performance help when landing a King Air? Use of reverse. On landing roll out, if deep reverse is required, the fuel control unit schedules more fuel to the engine, ramping up engine performance. Prop RPM increases and we effectively get more reverse thrust available. Hence, the amber caution light that reads RVS NOT RDY. When landing, you get more reverse thrust with the props spinning faster.
But do we really need that much beta/reverse thrust on landing? Not normally. I find one of the biggest faults in a newbie King Air pilot to be the excessive use of reverse thrust on landing. I think most new pilots think using reverse is a cool new capability, and they love shoving the power levers into deep reverse in their early days of flying a King Air. Once they realize that deep reverse causes the potential for excessive yawing from imperfectly rigged props or engines, and that there is a far greater potential of having a FOD event from the disturbed debris on the runway, they eventually figure out that beta/reverse thrust is a tool to have in the toolbox, but not a tool that is used regularly with gusto. Simply put, the minimal amount of beta/reverse thrust is probably your best bet when landing.
My current approach process
What is my strategy to setting up the approach today? I push the props forward shortly after dropping the landing gear and adding my first notch of flaps. This way I know my torque settings for every single approach, whether a normal approach or otherwise. I get more prop noise, but I have no need to make adjustments other than fine adjustments on the approach phase, and after landing I have no need to touch the prop levers, which requires me to remove my hands from the power levers on the roll out.
If the prop RPM is increased from cruise setting to full forward on approach, the power levers will also need to be moved to obtain desired torque. My practice is to push the prop levers forward early in the sequence, while the airspeed is still slowing down, and set the torque to a known setting that creates the performance I desire. An errant flow that I see regularly is to position the controls perfectly, obtain the desired airspeed on final, and then push the power levers full forward while on short final (last 500 feet of an approach). I think this destabilizes the approach as the airplane is approaching the runway. In general, the FAA (and just about every high-level flight instructor I know) teaches that destabilizing an approach in any aircraft below 500 feet is a recipe for disaster. It is important to establish stability and then only make minor adjustments as the airplane approaches the runway.
As a bonus, setting the prop levers forward removes an amber light from the Caution/Advisory Panel. When on the landing approach, I’ll often glance down at the panel and make sure there are no caution lights. I like a blank panel on landing as I want an advisory light to catch my attention. To me, this is the biggest reason to put the prop levers forward. It is simply good practice in any aircraft to have no caution lights during a critical phase of flight, and putting the props forward jibes with this overall good approach to flying any airplane.
What is interesting, is that my wife, Deanna, is the opposite of me, especially when flying King Airs. During the climb she climbs with the prop levers much more forward than I operate, and she keeps the prop levers at the cruise setting on the landing roll. We are different, having prioritized different aspects of the flight experience. We are both soundly in agreement with the POH, both know our systems well, and both of us have never had an accident or incident in a King Air. We are both VERY safe King Air pilots. We just fly the airplanes a little differently.
We decided early on that when we share a cockpit, whoever is in the left front seat is the PIC and makes the decisions for a flight. It has proven to be quite difficult for me to be in the right seat and not instruct, not examine, not be the PIC. I effectively get to watch, monitor, make radio calls and hand out drinks and snacks. I keep my mouth shut when it comes to nuanced differences, but I’ll chime in when I see something that impacts the safety of flight (a bird, a forgotten checklist item, traffic that may conflict, etc.).
The bottom line? Be intentional when operating your King Air. Know the systems, know your performance numbers and know what normal looks like. Whether you put the props forward early in the approach phase of flight or on the ground means little. Knowing why you do what you do is what matters.