Page 12 - May 25

FROM THE TRAINING CENTER
Did You Take Your Supplements?
by Pete Marx
modification options
Over the years, many
have become available
for the Beechcraft King
Air. If you own or operate a King Air,
there is a good chance your airplane
has some modification made to it.
How does the modification from the
original airplane design affect the
way the pilot operates the airplane?
Why should I care? After all, a
modification made to my airplane
improves it. Otherwise, why would
I spend so much time and money
purchasing and installing it?
A modification to an airplane
must go through a process before
the Federal Aviation Administration
will approve it. A supplemental type
certificate, or STC, is issued when
the manufacturer has received FAA
approval to modify an aeronautical
product from its original design.
The STC approves not only the
modification but also how that
modification affects the original
design.
Once the manufacturer has
STC approval for the product, the
optional equipment can be offered
to the public and installed in the
airplane. After installation, we
may forget that there has been a
change to the airplane and continue
to operate the airplane using the
original aircraft flight manual
10 •
­ KING AIR MAGAZINE MAY 2025