Page 17 - Volume 10 Number 12

He then asked to come back to the airport and land. Upon putting the gear down, he noted that he had an unsafe gear indication on the R/H side.
He landed successfully on all three gear. I surmised that the weight of the aircraft upon landing happened to push that broken outboard trunion back into place – a case of dumb luck.
The other aircraft (with a pilot and an instructor onboard) was not so lucky. It was a Cessna 210 on a training flight and apparently not in communication with anyone. The deduction on everyone’s part was that the Cessna was doing a power- on stall and impacted the King Air from underneath.
This whole thing was a case of dumb luck. Had the impact area to the 200 been different, it might have gone down with the Cessna; but it wasn’t, and it didn’t. Maybe it was luck, maybe it was divine intervention.
On the other hand, there are plenty of aircraft out there that could not sustain half the damage taken by this 200 and still make it safely to the ground. I will always stand by the reliability, the flyability and the sturdiness of the Beechcraft King Air. In my opinion, its reputation, coupled with its longevity, is unmatched in general aviation. And I believe the Silver Foxes feel the same way. KA
Dean Benedict is a certified A&P,
AI, with over 40 years of maintaining King Airs. He owned and managed Honest Air Inc., a maintenance shop specializing in Beech aircraft with an emphasis on King Airs,
for 15 years. In his new venture, BeechMedic LLC, Dean consults with King Air owners and operators on maintenance management, troubleshooting, pre-buys, etc. The Honest Air operation merged with Apex Aviation (KHND) where Dean oversees all King Air and Beechcraft activity. He can be reached at drdean@BeechMedic.com.
DECEMBER 2016
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 15