Page 28 - Volume 15 Number 7

aircraft development throughout the next 40 years. As the decade of the ‘70s approached, that timeless fact was still uppermost in the minds of Beech Aircraft engineers as they worked to develop a worthy successor to the Model 90 King Air. The result was hailed as the next logical step up the King Air ladder for customers who had outgrown their Model 90.
Designated the Model 100, the next-generation Beechcraft cabin was designed to accommodate up to 13 people in high-density configuration. In addition, the new airplane borrowed the wings and electrically- trimmed horizontal stabilizer system from the Model 99. These were mated to a lengthened fuselage of the same cross-section as that of the Model C90. Two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-28 engines, each rated at 680 shp for takeoff and 620 shp for cruise, turned four- blade, constant-speed, fully-reversible propellers that gave the Model 100 a maximum cruise speed of 287 mph – a significant increase over the C90’s 253 mph.
More speed, however, was not the Model 100’s only strongpoint – with main fuel tanks capable of holding up to 388 gallons of turbine fuel and optional auxiliary
tanks with a capacity of 82 gallons, the latest Beechcraft could fly nearly 1,500 statute miles, while keeping cabin occupants comfortable at high altitudes thanks to its bleed air pressurization system that was limited to 4.7 pounds per square inch (psid). Another key improvement was the airplane’s maximum gross weight of 10,600 pounds – 1,000 pounds more than the C90.
Maiden flight of the prototype Model 100 occurred March 17, 1969, followed by Federal Aviation Adminis- tration (FAA) Type Certification July 24 of that year. Beechcrafters built 89 Model 100s in the first two years of production that began in 1969 and ended in 1970. Lessons learned from customers during that time led to the introduction for the 1971 model year of the up- graded A100. First flown March 20, 1971, the latest King Air to emerge from the drawing boards was essentially identical to its predecessor, but it did boast a series of improvements. These included a 900-pound increase in maximum takeoff weight to 11,500 pounds and fuel capacity was increased to allow an additional 96 gallons of fuel to be carried, stretching maximum range to more than 1,500 statute miles.
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26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JULY 2021