Page 22 - July 2022

“Landing is absolutely no sweat when done using the proper short field technique.”
return flight to Phoenix. There were monstrous westerly winds that day making us use significantly more fuel than normal to get to Catalina.
Have you practiced your King Air short field techniques lately? For landing – as discussed in my books, your training materials and some previous articles – we use High Idle on the condition levers for more
rapid maximum reverse attainment. We also smoothly advance the propeller levers fully forward (2,200 RPM in our case) before touchdown. I use the terms “Noisy Drag” and “Quiet Drag” – the props give noisy drag but the flaps give quiet drag. Hence, I wait to push the prop levers forward until after full flaps are selected, usually about 500 feet
HAT (Height Above Touchdown). I target for Vref minus 10 over the threshold ... 90 knots in this model. This is not the time for a greaser! Let it land and immediately lift and pull the power levers ALL the way aft. When you see 60 knots on the airspeed indicator start coming out of maximum reverse and be at the bottom of Beta (Ground Fine for the newer models) by 40 knots. This procedure remarkably protects the prop blades. The condition levers can be pulled back to Low Idle any time after Maximum Reverse has been selected, allowing the engines to slow down normally when leaving reverse. Now’s the time to get aggressive with brake usage, as needed. (Even on Catalina’s 3,000- foot runway, heavy braking is almost never required.)
The short field takeoff? There are three main differences from normal. First, use every inch of
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20 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JULY 2022