Page 15 - June 2022

GATHERING 2020 2021 2022
at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum
by Kevin Carson
To appreciate this story, I need to share some background information. In 2016 Ron McAlister, Tom Clements, Jack Braly and I were standing outside of one of the hangars at the Beech Heritage Museum (BHM). During conversation, Ron expressed he had always wanted to have a large King Air fly-in but we were unsure of how it would be accepted in the turboprop world and it needed someone to spearhead it. As I recall, Jack was not sure we would get more than 10 King Airs to attend. That was all it took; the glove had been thrown down and the challenge was accepted – the King Air Academy would take the lead.
Now, we had to decide where to host the first “King Air Gathering” (KAG). At the time, Dean Benedict had just moved his King Air maintenance center to Henderson, Nevada, located right outside of Las Vegas. Of course, Tom and Jack were pushing for the BHM, but having it near Las Vegas for the first time was a “safe” decision. If it did not go over well, it was a short drive home with our tails between our legs. When it was time for the event, I recall 27 King Airs flying in and 47 attendees gathered in
a small hangar with only a handful of sponsors gathered round. It was a big success and pilots and owners were asking for more ... KAG I was in the books.
In previous years Tom and I had attended a function at Fredericksburg, Texas, and thought it would be a great place to host the gathering. Although Tom was still “coaching” me that the BHM was really where we needed to go. However, Fredericksburg had the Hangar Hotel, a conference center and the Pacific Showroom
JUNE 2022
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 13
R