Page 18 - Volume12 Number 5

initially. Sure, maybe this causes fractionally more wear in the mechanism, but in the overall scheme of things that’s a tiny worry. But what about the pilot who is in the habit of not adjusting friction and then he or she flies another King Air, one that either just came out of maintenance with loosened friction or one operated by a pilot who routinely loosened them for ground operations? Unless the pilot tightens them back up to the position he is used to using prior to takeoff, the deck has been stacked for an embarrassing, comical, boo-boo soon after liftoff at best, or dead people and a destroyed airplane at worst!
4 Gotcha number four is the Upper Forward Cowling Not Properly Secured. It is not uncommon that one of the four latches that secure the upper forward cowling in place fails to engage properly when this
walk-around inspections, I use the palms of both hands to give this piece a firm upward hit, on each side, making sure that I cannot dislodge it. This is especially important if I know the cowling has been removed and reinstalled prior to this flight.
Even having done so, however, there may come a time or two when the air loads imposed on the cowling in flight cause the incorrectly fastened latch to finally let go. As you do your After Takeoff checks, you notice the upper forward cowl is lifted up an inch or so! I suggest you do three things.
First, slow the airplane down. The faster you fly, the more air loads are created and the chance of the cowling actually departing the airplane are increased, so keep the indicated airspeed down to no more than, say, 140 KIAS. Second, extend the ice vanes. The engine anti-ice system, the inertial separator,
cowling when extended, reducing the inlet air pressure considerably. You will almost assuredly observe the loose cowling suck down a bit once you’ve extended the vanes. Third, return for landing. Taxi in, shutdown, and get a half-inch, thin walled socket and use it to tighten that temperamental latch properly.
5
The King Air exhibits considerable momentum, such that we can level off without adding sufficient power, yet the rate of airspeed decay is so slow and insidious that it can go undetected until we find ourselves far on the backside of the power curve, nearing stall speed. Close to the ground, perhaps still in IMC ... this is not good! It has caused fatal accidents.
Here’s where knowing the “magic numbers” for your airplane is very important. If this term is unfamiliar to you, where have you been during training?! Anyway, the same power setting that yields 160 KIAS, clean, level, will be almost exactly what is required to hold about 120 KIAS, level, with flaps at approach and the landing gear down. (90-series, about 800 ft-lbs; 100-series, about 900 ft- lbs; F90 and 200-series, about 1,000 ft-lbs; 300 and 350 series, about 40 percent. All of these presume the propeller speed is at the normal cruise setting for the model.)
This magic number is important even on a severely clear day. You come abeam the touchdown point on your downwind leg, lower the gear in anticipation of starting down and turning base, and then the tower directs you to extend your
cowling piece is installed. On my creates a venturi effect in the
Getting Too Slow at MDA
is Gotcha number five. More and more, as WAAS-corrected GPS units allow us to have vertical guidance on almost every instrument approach, we are doing less of the non-precision, “dive and drive” type of approach. But if and when you find the need to level off with approach flaps and landing gear extended, there is a trap here waiting for the unwary.
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16 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
MAY 2018