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Value Added: Blackhawk Names Western Aircraft as Authorized Dealer

Blackhawk Modifications, Inc. recently welcomed Western Aircraft to their global network of Authorized Dealers. Located in Boise, Idaho, Western Aircraft is an FAA authorized service center, certified aircraft repair station (FE6R532N), and worldwide distributor of parts and avionics for many of the world’s top aircraft manufacturers and OEMs including Beechcraft. The addition of Western Aircraft…

Value Added: Advent’s eABS Receives STC for King Air 300/300LW Variants

Advent Aircraft Systems continues to increase the aircraft count certified to accept its groundbreaking anti-skid braking technology. The FAA has granted an STC for the Advent eABS™ for all King Air 300 and 300LW aircraft. These aircraft variants join the King Air B300 and B200 variants that were STC’d in February 2016 and June 2017…

Value Added: LED Lighting Provider PWI Partners with Rose Aircraft Services

PWI announced they have made Rose Aircraft, a premier FBO operating in Mena, Arkansas, as an Authorized Installation Center for their products. The products that will be available by Rose Aircraft include PWI’s latest offering of LED reading lights, which feature PWI-exclusive, heat-reducing technology that allows the lights to run cooler than incandescent and competitors’…

Technically: From Multi-Engine Turboprop Communiqué # ME-TP-006

Date: December 2017 ATA 28 − Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) HQ-18-08 The FAA has released Special Airworthiness Information Bulletin (SAIB) HQ-18-08, [information shown below], for a fuel contamination on 36 civilian aircraft. Some of the affected aircraft are Textron Aviation turboprops. (Editor’s Note: King Airs included on SAIB are listed below for your convenience/reference.)…

Humanitarian Hero

Humanitarian Hero

Disaster Relief from a King Air’s Point of View The call from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) came in late August following Hurricane Harvey, a Category 4 storm that came ashore near Rockport, Texas. Harvey then stalled and moved back toward the Gulf, dumping extraordinary amounts of rain across southeastern Texas and Louisiana. Air…

Are you Required to Call Flight Service for a Briefing?

Are you Required to Call Flight Service for a Briefing?

With the proliferation of Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs), fewer and fewer pilots are calling Flight Service for a telephonic briefing. The question remains: Are pilots required to call Flight Service to be compliant with FAR 91.103? Reluctantly, the FAA has finally said, “No.” “Official” Briefing Source? Before EFBs, pilots had little choice but to call…

Maintenance Tip: Things to Ponder When Considering a New Paint Job

Maintenance Tip: Things to Ponder When Considering a New Paint Job

Thinking of having your King Air painted? No doubt the first thing that comes to mind is the cost. New paint is pricey, and you’ll want to shop around. For a 90 series King Air you could see quotes ranging from $25,000 to $50,000, or more. With bigger aircraft and custom paint schemes, it only…

Aviation Issues: The Latest in Aviation News

NBAA Asks FAA to Pause on Proposed IAP Cancellations Considering recent flight management system (FMS) software glitches that required FMS manufacturers to pull thousands of approaches from their databases, the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) is asking the FAA to “hit the pause button” on implementation of its proposed policy on cancellation of certain instrument…

Ask the Expert: Parking Brake…Yay or Nay?

Do you use your King Air’s parking brake regularly? I surely do, but I have observed that quite a few King Air pilots do not. Why? I believe that the reluctance to use the parking brake comes from our first training flights, such as in a Cessna 172. “Don’t use that. It’s unreliable and doesn’t…

Muscle Beech – the Mighty Turbo Barons

Muscle Beech – the Mighty Turbo Barons

Despite being manufactured in small numbers, the Model 56TC and A56TC were the most powerful Barons built and helped pave the way for development and production of the distinctive Model 60 Duke. The decade of the 1950s and 1960s had been good to Beech Aircraft Corporation, and the company’s executive vice president, Frank E. Hedrick,…