As a designated pilot examiner, I get a lot of questions from candidates and potential candidates before and during the BE300 type rating. Most of them are thought-provoking and many require me to do some homework to find the answer. I love receiving these questions, and I believe a discussion of these questions and answers could help you operate your King Air.
In the BE300 type rating practical test, are ATP standards required for a private pilot or commercial pilot applicant?
Yes, you must fly to ATP standards. Regardless of what license you hold, the Airline Transport Pilot Airman Certification Standards (ATP ACS) are used as the standards for a BE300 practical test. Even if you are a private pilot and only wish to add the BE300 type rating to your private pilot license, you still must meet the standards listed in the ATP ACS. Want to affix the BE300 type rating to your commercial pilot license? You still must fly to ATP standards. Fair? It doesn’t matter. You must fly to ATP standards if you want the BE300 type rating.
The ATP standards are more stringent, narrow and difficult to fly. Some candidates are not ready for the very precise standards. On many maneuvers, headings must be held to within 5 degrees, not 10 degrees (as are found on the private, instrument, or commercial ACS). For a precision approach, the ACS standards are only ¼ scale deflection on the localizer or glide slope, and only 5 knots of deviation from specified airspeed. That is a narrow standard.
For landing, the airplane must touch down -250/+500 from the aiming point markings, even on the single-engine approach and landing. An applicant for the BE300 type rating must fly with precision, more precision than many expect when they first thought about flying a King Air. Often, pilots fail the type rating practical test because they don’t know the more stringent ATP standards.
Another reason the Federal Aviation Administration mandates the ATP standards for a type rating is because a type rating follows the category as the pilot moves up in licensure. So, a private pilot – airplane multiengine land (AMEL) can earn the BE300 type rating and fly the King Air 300/350/360 as a private pilot. If that pilot earns the commercial pilot – airplane multiengine land (CP-AMEL) later in life, the BE300 type rating follows in that category. It is the same if the pilot earns the ATP-ME license. The type rating will follow the category as the pilot moves up in license.
Confusing? Possibly. Just know that regardless of the level of license you hold (private, commercial, ATP), you will still fly the BE300 type rating at the ATP level during the practical test, and that type rating will be with you for life, even if you move up in credentialing.
Is an engine shutdown really required on the BE300 type rating practical test?
During the BE300 type rating practical test an engine shutdown and restart is not required if the test is administered in the airplane. By this, I mean that the engine shutdown and restart can be simulated. In the ATP ACS, there is an actual task labeled “Inflight Powerplant Failure and Restart” that mandates a complete engine shutdown and restart. But, in the notes section the examiner (and candidate) is referred to Appendix 6 (Safety of Flight) and Appendix 7 (Aircraft, Equipment, and Operational Requirements and Limitations) of the ACS. In those appendices, there are nuanced notes. One sentence in that appendix reads, “If the practical test is conducted in an airplane that requires the applicant to hold a type rating, the applicant may perform a simulated power plant failure.”
So, there is an out from actually shutting down the engine in a King Air 3XX. However, if the whole task is read and the entirety of appendices 6 and 7 is read, the overall impression is that the FAA really does want the applicant to completely shut down and restart the engine. They definitely want to see the candidate feather the propeller. I’ve shut down a King Air engine hundreds of times during training and practical tests. If you’ve not done so, I recommend you get with your flight instructor and do it, even if only for the experience. But, during the BE300 type rating, you do not have to shut down the engine in the actual airplane.
If you elect to receive training for the BE300 type rating in a full flight simulator (FFS), then there is another appendix that applies. Appendix 8 advises that the pilot candidate conduct a complete engine shutdown and restart.
I personally agree with the FAA and believe the engine shutdown and restart to be a valuable experience for the pilot. I think it is good to see the propeller feather, to see the various caution/advisory lights illuminate and to gain the confidence that the airplane will perform on one engine. But if you take your practical test in a real airplane, you do not have to demonstrate an actual engine shutdown and restart; it can be simulated.
Can a King Air be used for a commercial pilot practical test?
Effectively, no. A turbine airplane can be used for a single-engine commercial practical test but is not to be used for a multi-engine commercial practical test. There is a provision for exception (waiver), but the DPE would have to request that waiver through their local FSDO (flight standards district office) and the DPE would need to meet some specific criteria to be approved. Most FSDOs won’t do it.
The FAA does not really like producing this exception. I asked my FSDO for a waiver and my request was politely declined. I was given an explanation that I believe to be proper. I agree with the FAA. The problem is performing some of the more dangerous maneuvers such as VMC demos in such powerful airplanes. A VMC demo requires full power (or takeoff power) to be applied to the good engine and the critical engine to be set at idle with the propeller windmilling. Then, the nose is raised so the airspeed decays, eventually reaching the airspeed where full rudder input cannot maintain directional control. Do you really want to do that in your incredibly powerful King Air? I don’t. I won’t. Neither will any other DPE with any wisdom.
So, if you want a commercial pilot – AMEL rating, obtain that in a piston-powered airplane. Then, go fly the King Air once you have earned the multi-engine rating. The King Air is not a training airplane, at least not for initial multi-engine training.
And, if you are thinking about buying a King Air and don’t have the multi-engine rating, get that rating before buying your King Air. Insurance companies really don’t like pilots who don’t have a multi-engine rating prior to buying the King Air. Your insurance rate will be egregiously high, and you might not even be insurable. Put the multi-engine rating in your back pocket and then go for the King Air. That’s the proper order.
Do I have to perform a V1 cut during a BE300 practical test?
Maybe! It depends on where you receive your training or evaluation.
There is not a V1 cut task in the ATP ACS. But there is a “Powerplant Failure During Takeoff” task in the ACS, and it does advise the examiner to administer the engine failure immediately after V1. But not when the test is administered in the airplane.
A V1 cut is not an official maneuver, but a colloquial term generated by the training industry to refer to the examiner administering an engine failure immediately after the airplane achieves V1 speed (takeoff decision speed). This has been considered a worst case scenario for a multi-engine pilot to lose an engine, and training center examiners (TCEs) in simulators administer a V1 cut to evaluate the toughest of scenarios.
However, the FAA does not want instructors or examiners to administer a V1 cut in an airplane because it is dangerous. The lowest altitude an instructor or examiner should administer an engine failure in a real airplane is 400 feet AGL.
Appendices 6 and 7 (mentioned earlier) of the ACS detail the criteria for administering an engine failure during a practical test, and it is clear that the FAA prohibits administering a simulated engine failure below 400 feet AGL in the airplane. In fact, don’t let an instructor (or examiner) administer a V1 cut in your airplane. It is not safe. Period.
Said in colloquial terms, “The juice is not worth the squeeze.” The risk is not worth the reward. If a pilot can show proficiency in handling an emergency engine failure at 400 feet AGL, the FAA assumes the pilot can handle the same emergency just after V1. The FAA got this one right. There is no such thing as a V1 cut maneuver in a real airplane.
Will you perform a V1 cut in a simulator? Absolutely. There’s no threat to aircraft or people in the simulator, and the instructor will administer an engine failure at V1 while evaluating the “Powerplant Failure During Takeoff” task. In the simulator, there is no danger if the candidate pilot fails to perform. In the simulator, you must be ready just after V1.
I hope this discussion helps you! I look forward to writing the next edition, hopefully with questions from you. To submit a question, send an email with the subject line Ask the DPE to joe@flycasey.com.