In recent months I have been swamped with buyers considering King Airs for purchase. They have asked me to scrutinize the logbooks to figure out where the aircraft is maintenance-wise. In doing so, I encountered some really frustrating situations that could have been avoided if the log entries were clear, concise and complete. Over the…
Thinking of having your King Air painted? No doubt the first thing that comes to mind is the cost. New paint is pricey, and you’ll want to shop around. For a 90 series King Air you could see quotes ranging from $25,000 to $50,000, or more. With bigger aircraft and custom paint schemes, it only…
All King Airs come out of the factory with BFGoodrich brakes, and most come with a multi-disc brake assembly. The only exceptions were the F90s and the 100s (straight A and B models) with standard gear, which came with a single-disc brake assembly by BFGoodrich (BFG). The multi-disc brakes by BFG have excellent stopping capability, but…
During the hot summer months, nearly everyone is running their air conditioner, and it would be an awful thing for it to stop working. Black Death could be the culprit and it isn’t what you want to happen to your King Air. Black Death is a sludgy disgusting goo that gums up the air conditioning…
For many years, I maintained a B200 owned by a family business that had used the same pilot for ages. He was ex-airline and a decent stick, but every time he picked up the King Air after maintenance, he pulled the door shut, started the engines, and took off – he didn’t even check the…
I just wrote about the cabin door in the February 2017 issue of this magazine, but I thought of a few more points I could make on this topic. To summarize briefly where I left off: If a King Air has a cabin door squawk, nine times out of 10 it is going to be…
I have a customer that had a cabin door problem for two-and-a-half years. He kept receiving the cabin door warning light on the annunciator panel when he was in flight, but never on the ground. When the light came on, it was never at the same altitude and happened at various times throughout the flight…
Last month I was invited to meet up with the Silver Foxes, a group of people that worked for Beech Aircraft “back in the day.” Most are long retired, but have stayed in touch with colleagues from what they fondly call “the Golden Days of Beechcraft.” Their reunion this year happened to be in my…
Not long ago, I had four King Airs in a row that had flap issues. Three of them were in the hangar at same time. A contagion of flap failures? Flap Cooties? Let’s hope not. F90 – No Washers First, there was an F90 in for a pre-buy inspection, and we found that most of…
Any time an aircraft broker calls me about a pre-buy inspection and asks, “How much would an annual cost for a King Air?”, it makes me wonder if this is their first shot at selling one. A few months ago, I was invited to speak at the local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) for their…