Page 20 - Volume 11 Number 1
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Ask the Expert KAGandKAS–
Two New Acronyms You’ll Like
by Tom Clements
This month you’re getting a break from my normal efforts at imparting some King Air systems or operational knowledge to you. Instead, I am going to introduce you to two different, yet related, endeavors which I believe you will find of great interest. I want you to participate in these ventures and benefit from them.
It has surprised and somewhat depressed me to realize that there has never been a successful King Air owner pilot association. I have enjoyed being a Duke Flyers Association (DFA) member for eons and when I was actively instructing in those airplanes, I found their annual gatherings to be both highly informative as well as lots of fun. The members saved a lot of maintenance and parts dollars due to the information that was exchanged. I was an American Bonanza Society (ABS) member when I owned my three Bonanzas – A35, V35B, and A36 – and gladly paid the annual dues to the Cessna Pilots Association (CPA) in the years I was a 180K owner.
Mitsubishi MU2s, Turbo Commanders, PC12s, TBMs, Cheyennes ... they and others all have varying degrees of action in their owners’ groups. But King Airs, the most popular and prolific executive airplane of all time? Pffft, almost nothing!
I have a theory as to why this is the case. When the King Air first appeared back in 1964, it was one of the very first turbinepowered twins and almost all were flown by a professional crew of two. Yes, there were many exceptions, but that was the norm. The professional pilots were in no position to ask their bosses to allow them to take the plane to some annual flyin and the desire to save maintenance and parts dollars was not very important to the crew. After all, it wasn’t their money!
But times have changed and now there are a lot of King Airs, from model 90s to 350s, that are ownerflown. And you know what? I think that is a very good thing! Cowl flaps, mixtures, ROP, LOP, CHTs, EGTs, shock cooling, engine monitors ... golly, those piston twins are so much harder to operate! I think the lowertime, ownerpilot is safer in the King Air, due to the lower workload required. I recall the old line uttered by a hightime pilot as he first transitioned into the King Air: “I felt fine flying it in an hour, but it took me ten hours to learn how to start the SOB!” Sure, there are
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some new things to learn – starting, reversing props, pressurization, for example – but once they are in the memory bank, isn’t the King Air a relative piece of cake to operate?
Another factor that makes the King Air safer than, say, a 421 or a Navajo, is the improvement in singleengine performance when faced with an engine failure. Sure, an old standard A90 does not have knockyoursocksoff performance, but I will still take it against most of the piston competition. And the later King Air 90 models? Much better. 200series? Outstanding! 300series? Amazing!
The three King Air models currently in production celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the King Air in 2014. More than
7,300 Beechcraft King Air turboprops have been delivered to customers around the world since 1964, making it the best- selling business turboprop family in the world. The worldwide fleet has surpassed 60 million flight hours in its first 52 years, serving roles in all branches of the U.S. military and flying both commercial and special mission roles around the world.
So as the mystique of turbine flying has rightly been relegated to its lowpriority status, more and more King Airs are now being flown by their owners. Well, guys and gals, let’s take advantage of this new demographic and make an association that will be truly beneficial (and fun!) for all of us who share this common bond. Let me introduce KAS, the King Air Society.
JANUARY 2017
