Page 20 - Volume 12 Number 8
P. 20
When BB-11 had its initial problem that I discovered in Wichita, it was because the plastic lines had been reversed. However, the fix that had been made then was to reverse the contacts on the Differential Pressure switch. In effect, two mistakes that now existed were canceled out and all was well. What’s the old saying? “Two wrongs make a right?” That was certainly true in this case.
So, when the Beech team came to BB-11 at Van Nuys and installed the correct metal lines, we went back to reversed rudder boost. Damn! Are mechanics and pilots so clueless that they don’t verify the system works properly after a modification like this? In some cases – like this one – I guess not!
The $10,000 N Number
In my Flight Review, Inc. days, I went to Portland, Oregon, to conduct recurrent training for the owner- pilot of a nearly new B200. This lawyer’s first and last names began with the initials T and W and his nearly new B200 was N1TW. Cool!
When he was ordering his new B200 he wanted N1TW to be the registration number in the worst way. Yet that number was already assigned. Not to be deterred, my client found who owned that airplane through the FAA registry and contacted him. It turned out that the fellow with whom he spoke operated an air freight business using
Piper Navajos and this was one of those airplanes. Why the N number? Because the previous owner of this Navajo was Tammy Wynette, the country-western singing star.
Ten thousand dollars later, our lawyer had his number!
BB-1’s Drag Chute
Before the BE200 made its appearance, about the only T-tailed airplanes were the Boeing 727 and the Learjet, both of which, in their original states, had horrid stall characteristics. Understandably, Beech was worried about how the T-tail would affect the King Air. Even though wind-tunnel tests appeared to indicate that the T-tail would not be a problem on this turboprop, straight- wing airplane, nevertheless flight testing proceeded with a prudent level of caution. Before stall testing began, the prototype airplane, BB-1, was fitted with a parachute system installed in a canister that replaced the normal tail cone beneath the rudder. This drag chute was designed to be deployed in the event that a deep-stall or spin condition developed, and its drag would lift the tail, point the nose down, reduce the wing’s angle-of- attack and correct the out-of-control condition. Then, explosive bolts would be activated to release the chute and let the airplane return to Beech Field safely.
Before the actual stall tests began, Beech wanted to ensure that the chute could both be deployed and then jettisoned properly. On the first test flight, the deployment went as planned. But the jettison? No luck! For some reason, the chute stayed attached to the fuselage. Using nearly full engine power and with careful altitude management, Bud Francis managed to land BB-1 back at Beech Field safely, although it came uncomfortably close to the telephone
lines at the end of the runway!
By the way, the chute was never needed during the stall testing phase. The 200 exhibited no stall condition in which forward elevator travel would not lower the nose, reduce the angle of attack and allow normal recovery.
Garrett’s Own B100 ... and its Weird Engine
As you probably know, the King Air B100 is the only model powered by the Garrett TPE331 powerplant instead of a version of the PT6. This came about following a prolonged workers’ strike at Pratt and Whitney that caused the flow of PT6s to nearly cease at the Beech factory back in the mid-1970s.
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18 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
AUGUST 2018