I was asked to write an article about preparing a King Air for winter weather. Initially, I brushed the idea aside because everything I would suggest is covered by the Phase Inspections in the Maintenance Manual. But when I had my shop, the majority of my customers flew less than 200 hours a year and…
In 2017, the owner of a King Air 200 was landing at his home base; when the nose touched down, the aircraft lurched violently to the right. Luckily, he managed to keep the aircraft going straight down the runway with the nose tire sliding sideways! This was a nose-steering failure. Once he was safely off…
Recently I was consulted about a PT6 undergoing a Hot Section Inspection (HSI). It began benignly enough; the hot section itself was in decent shape. But things took a left turn when a broken diffuser tube was found. This meant the rest of the engine (the “cold” section, if you will) had to be removed…
Years ago, a friend of mine got a $120,000 bill for maintenance – double of what he was expecting – and he faxed it to me. First off, I saw eight items that required the aircraft to be on jacks for proper compliance. The shop had charged him labor to jack and unjack the aircraft…
It’s good to know that people are reading my articles. My last one, about prop heat in the February 2019 issue of King Air, generated some discussion in the King Air section of an online forum. Ice Slams A King Air pilot in Alaska shared his experience. Obviously, he gets into icing conditions all the…
I got a call from a King Air pilot I know well. He used to fly a model 90 and brought it in to my shop for many years. Now he flies a 200 with four-blade Hartzell props. We got reacquainted last year during the pre-buy on this 200. The aircraft is working out well,…
True story: I traveled to Texas to check out a King Air at the tail end of its pre-buy inspection. Phases I-IV had been done and the squawks had been addressed. My job was to put my eyeballs on the airplane, do the final ground runs and go on the acceptance flight. When I asked…
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…
Recently, I’ve heard from several King Air owners who read this magazine and called me about my articles. All of these guys are fairly new to the world of King Airs and asked if some of my earlier articles could be run again. Even some longtime readers of this magazine requested a “refresh” on some…
We all know the “Do’s and Don’ts” of parking brakes. Don’t set it when you pull into an FBO for any length of time, because they will likely tow your King Air to another spot. I’ve seen the entire nose gear assembly ripped out of a King Air by an over-zealous line guy. I guess…