Page 24 - Volume 15 Number 7

a bit less help during this demonstration than when an engine has actually flamed out. Why? Because the lower power engine is at zero thrust, still running, not totally dead. Keep in mind, as I have tried to emphasize in previous articles, that rudder boost helps by applying some force on the appropriate rudder cable but it, alone, is not nearly enough at VMCA. Use your legs!
Speaking of zero thrust: I believe the torque/RPM combination that Beech specifies in the procedures for their different models are accurate. However, in my experience, they tend not to be as consistent as a method I developed and have used for a very long time. It appears that the torque indication – at these very low values – is not as accurate nor as reproducible as the other method.
Try this: Bring the power lever to idle and pull the propeller lever back to, but not into, the feather detent. This will set the propeller governor at its lowest governing speed. In the 200-series, for example, you’ll have close to 1,600 RPM. Now adjust the condition lever to get between 60 and 65% N1 or Ng. I bet that torque will be quite close to Beech’s Zero Thrust value but pay it no mind.
Some King Air models base VMCA on a feathered, not a windmilling, propeller. This applies to all of the 300-series, as well as to most four-blade-equipped members of the 200-series. This changes the VMCA demonstration procedure by setting zero thrust on the lower-powered engine instead of idle.
Here are a few closing thoughts. As I stated, the real airplane is usually the only accurate way to experience the true handling characteristics of your King Air. With proper safeguards – primarily, enough altitude – these maneuvers can be done very safely. If you have not yet experienced an idle-power, full break, stall in your King Air, you should! These are very gentle airplanes in which a stick shaker and/or stick pusher are not required. They stall very much like a big Bonanza. How about pumping the landing gear down by hand? Ever done it in the actual airplane? It bears only passing similarity to the simulator, doesn’t it? I firmly believe that the more comfortable we become in our actual airplane the more likely it is that we will react in a correct and timely fashion when facing an abnormality or emergency. KA
King Air expert Tom Clements has been flying and instructing in King Airs for over 46 years and is the author of “The King Air Book” and “The King Air Book II.” He is a Gold Seal CFI and has over 23,000 total hours with more than 15,000 in King Airs. For information on ordering his books, contact Tom direct at twcaz@msn.com. Tom is actively mentoring the instructors at King Air Academy in Phoenix.
If you have a question you’d like Tom to answer, please send it to Editor Kim Blonigen at editor@blonigen.net.
22 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JULY 2021