Page 17 - Volume 14 Number 7

One way we can be kind to our King Air is being gentler when closing the cabin door. (Textron Aviation)
Do not start by pulling on the lower cable section that goes from the support arm to the door. That misguided action puts a big kink in the cable. See that little spring down where the cable connects to the door? Its purpose is to position the cable into a proper, large curve as the door is closed. Kinked cables eventually fray, break and leave an exiting passenger with a nasty surprise as the door is now resting on the ground!
Once you’ve lifted the door to about waist height, now reposition your hands so that the left hand can continue closing the door while the right hand reaches in to the upper aft cable piece – the section above the support rod – and assures that the cable goes forward (left, as viewed from outside) of the door’s hydraulic snubber. The natural tendency is for this cable to get trapped between the door frame’s upholstery and the snubber, causing it to impede the next opening of the door.
We’re not done yet. Unless the exterior door handle is again rotated to the full opening position – this time clockwise (CW), as viewed from outside – we will again have the bayonets getting pushed in to the open position by striking the fuselage. Not cool; not gentle. So, grab the door handle and rotate it fully CW as you gently place the door into its frame. Now rotate the handle toward the closed position.
JULY 2020
Need to lock the door for security? If so, go ahead and rotate the handle as far as it will go and lock it with your key. But what if you’re in your own hangar and security is not an issue? You just want the door closed to keep dirt and bugs and rodents out. In this case, just rotate the handle about 45 degrees, not the full 90-plus degrees to the locked position. This action keeps the door in a “loosely closed” condition, not loading up the bayonets and hooks with the tension they must have to hold the door against the inflight pressurization force it experiences. (Side note: A King Air door is approximately 30 inches wide and 50 inches tall: 1,500 square inches of surface. Pressurize to 5.0 psid and it experiences 7,500 pounds trying to push it open!) I am probably optimistic in my belief that not putting the full closing forces on the hooks and bayonets when not needed will lead to better door reliability and less maintenance ... but it couldn’t hurt!
Starting engines: Starting a PT6 is easy. Starting it correctly is not. That’s why two chapters in The King Air Book and at least one in Volume II are devoted to that critical procedure. Just this week I watched a pilot initiate the start of the second engine while the first engine was at Low Idle, not the correct High Idle setting. To compound the problem, we were at an
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 15