The polarized windows in a King Air were designed to block sunlight for passengers sitting on the sunny side of the cabin. They are the King Air’s answer to that little sliding shade found on airliners and elsewhere, and they do the trick nicely, but with one major drawback: They are prone to burning out…
When I taught King Air ground school at Beech Aircraft Corporation back in the 1970s a name we used often was “lever lock switch.” In preparation for this article, I went to my dictionary to see if this word actually existed and was not too surprised to find that it did not. Instead, what I…
The Model A17F and A17FS were like no other Beechcrafts ever built – powerful, brutish machines whose high performance was nothing short of spectacular for their time. Despite America’s bleak economic situation, Walter Beech and his chief engineer, Ted Wells, held tenaciously to the belief that there was a small, but profitable market for a…
Earlier this year, Innovative Solutions & Support (IS&S) announced it had received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Supplemental Type Certification (STC) for its ThrustSense® Autothrottle to be installed on Beechcraft King Air 200 and 300 aircraft equipped with G1000 and NXi flight decks. This accreditation allows ThrustSense to be installed on all certified glass cockpit systems…
Aviation, like most activities, requires a certain level of expertise. However, it can also be pursued at a wide variety of levels, from recreational for a few dozen flight hours a year, to professional for a thousand flight hours (or more) per year. Thus, “expert” is a loaded term that can mean a variety of…
Bonus depreciation continues to impact purchase decisions of many taxpayers. While the general rule is 80% bonus depreciation for business assets, business aircraft may qualify for 100% bonus depreciation in 2023. If you have signed a purchase agreement prior to 2023 and made a non-refundable deposit of at least $100,000 – you qualify to take…
Plans are coming together for King Air Gathering 2023 being held at the World Golf Village in St. Augustine, Florida. Attendees will fly into Jacksonville Executive at Craig Airport (JAXEX) in Jacksonville, Florida, and utilizing the FBO services of Sky Harbor Aviation. From there complimentary transportation (during designated times) will take attendees to the World…
Let’s see a show of hands: How many of you have experienced an honest-to-goodness engine fire in a King Air? As I expected, no hands are up. How about an honest-to-goodness engine failure, such as a main bearing going bad, or the RGB (Reduction Gearbox) uncoupling, or the high-pressure, engine-driven fuel pump failing, or an…
On a cold December day in 1928, famous actor Wallace Beery walked into Olive Ann Mellor’s office, flashed his famous grin and plunked down a wad of greenbacks to pay for his custom-built Travel Air monoplane Ms. Mellor was stunned, not only by the sudden presence of an esteemed Hollywood star in her humble office,…
Textron Aviation recently announced that an electrically driven air conditioning system will soon be a standard feature on all new production Beechcraft King Air 360 aircraft. This new feature provides cooled air throughout the cabin while the aircraft is on the ground and in flight, enhancing passenger and crew comfort. Deliveries with the new air…