More than 80 years after it rolled out of Walter Beech’s Travel Air factory in Wichita, Kansas, one of only two Type 5000 cabin monoplanes known to exist has been resurrected to honor the birth of scheduled passenger service in North Texas. No other airplane typifies the diversity of our aviation heritage more than National…
In late June 2018, there was a thread on the BeechTalk forum that asked about the white circles around some cockpit switches. It also raised the question of why some switches had red inserts. I was surprised to find that some King Air pilots were not aware of the white circles’ meaning, so I decided…
Another Extension on the FAA Bill? It looks like it. Congress has yet to come to an agreement on a long-term FAA reauthorization bill. The agency is operating under it’s fifth short-term extension set to expire Sept. 30 and will likely see its sixth. The Airlines for America (A4A) president and CEO Nicholas Calio stressed…
I see a lot of questions about the King Air’s autofeather system in online discussions. It’s not just the newly minted King Air pilots that are asking. Many a King Air pilot with plenty of hours under their belt have had the occasional “synapse lapse,” so I thought a basic review of autofeather would be…
Larry Hancock and Pat Reaume built their friendship in a typical way. Both had children the same age and in the same high school sports, and they followed them wherever they were competing. That allowed for a lot of time to talk and get to know each other. Pat is a retired airline pilot and…
Paint scheme mirrors nonprofit’s aim to raise HIV awareness Air traffic controllers, FBO personnel, fellow pilots and passengers have all commented about the striking paint scheme on the 2008 Beechcraft King Air B200GT owned and operated by CAN Community Health, Inc. Getting people to notice the aircraft is exactly what the organization’s leaders wanted when…
SAFO Issued on Work Conducted by AeroBearings Includes PT6 Engines The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a Safety Alert for Operators (SAFO) advising of improper maintenance provided by AeroBearings of Arlington, Texas, by conducting work without the necessary approved data. The company therefore could not determine whether the bearings met the OEM’s design specifications. AeroBearings’…
I am continuing more of my personal King Air “War Stories” for this month’s article. Fuel Transfer and Crossfeed It is exceedingly common for all of us to incorrectly use “Fuel Transfer” and “Fuel Crossfeed” interchangeably. However, the words actually refer to very different things. Correctly, Transfer should always refer to the movement of fuel…
In 1946 the realities of a postwar commercial airplane market forced Walter H. Beech to abandon a Beechcraft from the past in favor of a Beechcraft of the future. The Beechcraft Model 17 was more than a flying machine; it was legendary. From the moment it first took flight, the airplane endured the test of…
FlightSafety International recently announced a new PT6 engine familiarization training program for pilots. The aviation training company says the new PT6 training will provide pilots who fly PT6-powered turboprop aircraft with the operating fundamentals. The course includes basic theory, engine to airframe interface, and best practices while operating the engine. It will also be beneficial…