Sixty years ago, on Jan. 20, 1964, Beech Aircraft Corporation pilots flew the first official flight of the conforming prototype of the Beechcraft King Air Model 90. Thousands of spectators – from employees to area residents and local and state dignitaries – watched as the aircraft took off from Beech Field on the east side…
Registration for King Air Gathering (KAG) 2024 is scheduled to open Feb. 12. Taking place at The Greenbrier, located near White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, the event will be held Wednesday, May 15 through Saturday, May 18 with a variety of speakers and educational seminars, as well as vendor exhibits and social activities. It is…
In Part One, we flew to the greater Seattle area and toured the National Park Service (NPS) lands northeast and northwest of the Seattle metro area. That included North Cascades National Park (NCNP), Olympic National Park (ONP) and the various associated National Recreation Areas and NPS lands. In this section, we’ll continue our tour of…
I’ve been corresponding with a King Air owner about an oil temp problem he has wrestled with for awhile. On one engine, the oil temp is not warming up to where it should be. Initially he worried about icing in the oil-to-fuel heater, but we have since ruled that out. This started my thinking about…
Years ago, I was conducting recurrent King Air 200 training with the two experienced and professional pilots of a Midwest corporation. As part of their takeoff briefing, they used the phrase, “We’ll use big numbers.” “What did you say?” I asked. “What does that mean?” Their explanation made a lot of sense to me then,…
Emerald or jade. Forest or hunter. Turquoise or teal. Whatever adjective one chooses to add to “green,” there is little question you’ll find it in Washington. As a state motto, it’s never been officially adopted, but Washington has long been called “The Evergreen State” for good reason. Seattle, the state’s largest city, is similarly referred…
Many aircraft owners are entrepreneurial by nature, looking for new opportunities, ideas and efficient ways to deploy capital and maximize their return. This mindset creates new and more affordable ways to fly the open sky without having 150 strangers sitting next to you. A common avenue to making aircraft ownership more affordable is to be…
There you are, just starting to roll from the “hold short” line onto the active runway to begin the takeoff for which you have just been cleared. Are you ready for takeoff? “Of course I am, Tom! I’ve completed the proper checklists and given a briefing to myself since I am flying single pilot today.…
In mid-December Textron Aviation announced a new ProAdvantage program, SustainableAdvantage, to provide owners with an additional option for reducing their carbon dioxide emissions from operating aircraft. In collaboration with 4AIR, the program is set to launch this month and is available to eligible customers who own and operate Beechcraft, Cessna and Hawker turbine aircraft worldwide. …
NBAA will be hosting its first regional forum of the year Jan. 31, bringing together current and prospective business aircraft owners, operators, manufacturers, customers and other industry personnel for a one-day event filled with networking and business development opportunities. The event will feature aircraft, education and exhibits: A side-by-side lineup of the world’s most cutting-edge…