This is my last article for King Air magazine. I have been a regular contributor here since 2011 … 13 years. The magazine has provided a perfect forum for sharing my 50-plus years of King Air flying and instructing experience. I will always be grateful for the leadership and guidance of the magazine’s editor, Kim…
I received the following question and thought the answer would be of interest to King Air magazine readers. I was wondering if you could elucidate a bit upon the thinking behind Beech going to a T-tail on the King Air 200. If I remember correctly, the 100 series had a conventional tail. So what were Beech’s…
Obtaining a firm grasp on how a King Air’s electrical system operates is one of the more difficult tasks that any new King Air pilot faces. Throughout the course of my more than 50 years of King Air pilot instruction, teaching the electrical system always ranked high on the difficulty scale, right up there with…
As you have experienced, the propeller on the PT6A engine series turns very freely. Even a child using a little finger can spin it quite easily in the hangar or on the ramp, due to the fact the PT6 is a “free turbine” engine in which the propeller shaft is not physically connected to the…
In the early days of the King Air and PT6 engines, back in the ’60s and early ’70s, there was no such thing as chip detectors. The low spot near the bottom of the reduction gearbox (RGB) at the front of the engine had a drain plug only. The plug was not fitted with any…
I’ve been asked about engine ice vane usage on the ground. Specifically, a concern was expressed about a temperature restriction stated in the Pilot’s Operating Handbook (POH) for the model 200-series. Is a limit being violated at times when ice vanes are being used? I’ve had a similar concern for the 300-series. I plan to…
This article’s title pertains to a somewhat common request that I have received over the years of my King Air training career: Help me find a fix for the autopilot. Even when no question has been asked, I find that quite often when I ride as an instructor or passenger in a King Air, I…
It’s going to do it anyway, right? Since the feathering springs and blade counterweights are always trying to move the propeller blades to high pitch – and the extreme of high pitch is the feathered position – and propeller oil pressure is what prevents the springs and counterweights from succeeding in their job, then as…
My aim in writing this article is not to present anything new but rather to simply review some of the fuel system information that you should have already received. I am sure the fuel system was covered extensively in your initial King Air training course and, if you have been flying King Airs for a…
I keep observing a disturbing lack of knowledge and understanding of an aircraft’s pressurization system. Let me try to set the record straight … or at least straighten it out a little bit. I will use the numbers associated with a member of the King Air B200-series. However, what I write, with minor modifications, will apply…