After a few particularly long drives across the state of Texas, Cuatro Strack decided to pursue earning a private pilot certificate. Now nearly 20 years later, the South Texas-based aviator owns a 1967 King Air A90 (serial LJ-260).
Strack currently flies the twin turboprop in support of his fence-building business as well as for personal use. The aircraft is a significant step up from his first aircraft, a Piper Arrow, which was an impactful change from driving at the time.
Flying to drive fence posts
Strack has fostered an entrepreneurial spirit for most of his life and started a fence construction business when he was in ninth grade. He pursued that endeavor as time allowed throughout high school and college.
“After Texas A&M, I thought I needed a real job, so I started with our local farmers’ co-op,” he recalled. “I was still building fence on the weekends and such, and after two months of making more on the weekends, I could not afford to stay at the real job. So, in the spring of 2003 my wife and I started working full time in the fence construction business and have been blessed ever since.”
The Stracks’ company, J4 Fencing and Services – a play on Cuatro’s legal name, Joe Strack IV – is based in
El Campo, Texas, and completes fence projects across the state and beyond. The company provides residential and commercial solutions, with a popular product being their livestock, deer and exotic game fences.
“We were driving sometimes as far as six or seven hours out to look at work, and I was doing all the sales at the time,” he explained. “I didn’t need to be there but only for a couple of hours and was spending all day driving. It was too time-consuming, so I started flying lessons around Thanksgiving and got my pilot’s license by the end of January. I had an Arrow at that time, which is what I got my instrument ticket in.”
It was clear that the travel time to these faraway jobs could still be condensed, so Strack began considering what his next move would be.
“The Arrow was a good little starter plane and it dang sure served the purpose of being better than driving,” he said. “But I started looking for something faster and it wasn’t long that I was searching. I bought an RV-6 that was disassembled for paint. The assumption was that in a couple of months I could have this thing painted and put back together. Well, it took about a year to get to that point – but I flew that thing for almost 1,500 hours and at some point while owning it I also bought a Cessna 310.”
Moving to a turboprop
The piston twin was a good transition to multi-engine operations and Strack flew it for around 600 hours in total. His hand was forced into getting a replacement for the 310, though, as its front gear collapsed and resulted in a total insurance loss.
“We started looking at the options out there,” he said. “At first, I was really hesitant about getting into turboprops. There were some things that made me feel that way, especially knowing that the engines could be extremely expensive to operate and maintain. But I have some family in the ag aviation business and they’re like, ‘Man, you know, yes – they cost more to get into, but the uptime is so much better. And if operated correctly, you shouldn’t be running into any problems.’”
Strack took an initial interest in the Piper JetProp until he learned more about its useful load. Further examination revealed the aircraft would meet his missions only about a tenth of the time. Conversations with those in his circle led Strack to the King Air 90 series as a good option.
“We really enjoyed the 310 for its load and range but wanted a safer cross-country plane. The King Air 90 fit that need,” Strack said. “I started looking at different King Airs and I really wanted an E model because a friend of mine was flying an F and he said that if he had to choose another, he would buy an E. He really liked the -28 motors and the additional fuel capacity that came with them.”
A good time to buy a King Air
In late 2021 when Strack was looking for an aircraft, inventory was favorably priced – about half compared to prices now. He looked hard for an E90 but ultimately found an A90 with a newer panel at a great price.
“At the time, the acquisition cost for early-year King Airs 90s was around $650,000 to $850,000 and I was looking at the lower end of that scale,” he said. “Many of the aircraft in that price range still had -20 engines and original equipment, and I was being told that it could be hard to find parts for those engines. I decided that I really wanted to find an airplane with -28s and found an A90 that was in pretty good shape. The paint and interior were pretty nice, and it had a great panel with Garmin G600 and GTN 500.”
A borescope evaluation completed during the prepurchase inspection revealed minor CT disc chipping and some issues with the lining of the exit duct. Both were fixed and Strack purchased the 1967 King Air A90.
to his home base of Wharton Regional Airport (KARM).
“Once it was all done, everybody gave their blessings on the engines and I knew this was going to be the plane for us,” he said. “The airplane has been really good to us, and we’ve had it for four years now. In that timeframe we’ve had to overhaul the gear this past season and the props the season before that. Those were big items that were expensive, but otherwise the plane has been pretty good as far as maintenance goes.”
The most unique aspect of
LJ-260 is its maintenance pedigree, having been cared for by the same MRO for most of its recent life.
“The popularity in the numbers of King Airs out there means that the support is really good,” Strack said. “The plane was owned and kept in Tyler, Texas, before it was sold to the previous owner in McKinney, Texas. They elected to keep the aircraft with East Texas HSI in Tyler since they have worked on that aircraft for so long. In 15 years, the owner of the MRO told me they [the operator of LJ-260] have only had one departure delay due to a maintenance problem. We haven’t had any extended unexpected downtimes, and we send it in for phase inspections, which is nice. They are a fair provider that services the airplane properly and doesn’t go overboard [with unnecessary work requests].”
Near or far, the King Air is there
Strack’s mission hasn’t changed much over the course of two decades of aircraft ownership. The need to get to projects across Texas remains, with the A90 operating for 100 to 150 hours per year mostly between jobsites.
“Sometimes we use the plane to move crews around if they’re off on a faraway job; instead of putting them on the road for a couple of days, we might just fly them out there,” he said. “I also have a 182, so if it’s close enough a lot of times it’s more feasible to take the Cessna to move parts and stuff like that. But if I need to get farther out there, the King Air wins with its range and speed.”
The A90 also gets chosen frequently over the 182 due to its larger cabin. Whether it’s the litany of gear required for a successful hunting trip or the many parts and pieces needed during a fence job, the ability to remove the seats, load up and go is heavily relied on.
“Normally I try to fly between 18,000 and 25,000 feet, depending on the winds,” he said. “At 24,000 to 25,000 feet is pretty much the maximum you can fly because the plane really doesn’t have much power any higher than that. And I plan for around 230 knots while burning 80 gallons an hour.”
One change King Air ownership brought is the A90’s additional seats and range make personal travel practical.
“There is about four hours and 45 minutes worth of fuel available, and our longest flight is right at the four-hour limit,” Strack said. “I do a lot of flights for business that are around two to three hours long, and then our family has flown direct [from Wharton, Texas] to Cabo San Lucas and Cozumel, Mexico.”
Flying privately with their father has stoked an interest in aviation among Strack’s kids.
“My oldest daughter is a commercial pilot and CFI,” he said. “She just finished college, so she does a little flying as well but isn’t checked out in the King Air yet. She doesn’t have enough twin time but is going to work toward that now that she’s out of school. Then my son, who’s still young, mentioned that he’s interested in getting his license.”
Looking to the future
Operating a King Air has met, if not exceeded, Strack’s expectations.
“When you look at turboprops for sale, probably half of them are King Airs,” he said. “I don’t think you can go wrong with running a Beechcraft because they are still supported really well and considering the overall package of what you get and the robustness of the airframe.”
Strack said he doesn’t feel like he is compromising too much with the A90.
“Granted, we could find something faster, but then you’re talking about a lot more cost – acquisition and hourly,” he said. “You have to compromise somewhere and try to find that sweet spot that works for your business and family. The King Air A90 has been a good fit for our mission.”
Like all pilots, the evaluation of the aircraft and mission fit is continuous. For now, Strack doesn’t see himself flying anything else.
“I think in the future I would continue to change out some of the panels, although the aircraft is very capable right now,” he said. “There is an Avidyne display there that’s basically a paperweight, which I would like to change out for a new Garmin 750 and 650 eventually. We had replaced the old autopilot with a new S-TEC 3100. That’s helped a lot with approaches, which has been very useful. As time goes on, I think we will start using the airplane more and more.”