I was fortunate to be employed by the Beech Aircraft Corporation’s Training Center during most of the development and certification process for the most popular King Air of all time, the model 200. I was the first ground and flight instructor for this model and had the privilege of learning directly from the engineers and…
At the completion of my instrument instructor checkride back in ancient times, I recall that I asked the experienced FAA Inspector an important question as he was typing up the completion paperwork: “What’s the most important thing I should teach my instrument students?” “Situational awareness,” (SA) was his answer. I have concluded that he nailed…
I am continuing more of my personal King Air “war stories” for this month’s article. Automatic Unfeathering We all know how worthwhile the wonderful King Air autofeather system is, right? What you may not realize, however, is that numerous King Airs also have an automatic unfeathering system. This first came to light for me when we…
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…
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…
Based on feedback from last month’s article in which I related some interesting personal experiences – “War Stories” – I am continuing with additional tales this month. I hope you find them enlightening and enjoyable. Split Flaps in an A90 In the early 1980s my company, Flight Review, Inc., received a call from a fellow…
The dictionary definition of War Story is “… an account or anecdote concerning one’s personal experiences, especially in military combat …” The stories presented in this article surely come from my personal experience but I am thankful that they do not originate from military combat. Instead, they come from events in my 46 years of…
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…
This article originally appeared in the September 2013 issue of this magazine. Some questions that I have recently received lead me to believe it is time for a repeat. Additionally, I have added a comment about the Shock Link in the nose wheel steering mechanism. I am often asked by pilots transitioning into a King…
I addressed this in an article many moons ago, but I still observe lots of King Air pilots who have never been taught the trick that makes setting takeoff power easier and better than the technique they are currently using. The trick? Do not look at the Torque or ITT gauges until you have monitored…