Page 16 - June 2022

all on the airport with the Nimitz Museum, breweries and wineries not far away – it was a great venue. After hosting the gathering for two years there, we planned KAG 2020 to be held at Beech Field in Wichita, Kansas, and the 2021 KAG would be held at the BHM. Due to COVID, the 2020 and 2021 gatherings were canceled and it returned this spring.
The first day of the gathering, Thursday, May 12, was scheduled for museum tours during the afternoon, and entertainment by The Bellamy Brothers and cocktails in a large event tent that evening. The museum tours were a complete success with Jack Braly (former Beech Aircraft president), Don Cary (longtime Beech Aircraft executive) and Carl Mariniak (BHM manager) as the tour guides. Imagine that – the old Beechcraft corporate executives providing museum tours; what a treat! The ramp was filling up, the tours were ongoing, sponsors and vendors were setting up and KAG 2022 was officially off and running.
On Friday morning, after some quick welcomes and introductions, Charles Parish of the BHM gave a “welcome” to all the King Air owners and pilots and a brief overview of the museum. The agenda was kicked off by our first speaker, Textron Senior Air Safety Investigator, Peter Basile. This was a not-to-be-missed presentation of aviation-related accidents and how the King Air specifically fares to the industry as a whole. The day continued with varying presentations from the beginnings of the King Air with Don Cary, avionics with Garmin and Genesys Aerosystems, the state of
14 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
JUNE 2022