Page 23 - Volume 10 Number 11

only after we rotate? I want to make absolutely sure that the flaps are behaving themselves before I start the takeoff roll.
Ice Vanes? Many pilots want to leave the vanes extended for takeoff to better protect the engine from FOD, Foreign Object Damage. However, with the combination of forward velocity and a positive propeller blade bite, FOD is impossible. If the altitude and OAT are such that your engines can make full power even with the vanes extended – “Engine Anti-Ice On” for the later models – then I suggest leaving them extended just in case we abort the takeoff and use Ground Fine or Reverse to help stop. On the other hand, an old PT6A-20-powered A90, in the summer in Baja, will be ITT-limited and the vanes will cause a slight reduction in takeoff power, so I would vote for retracting them on the runway. If we abort, make sure we leave Reverse no later than 40 KIAS...unless doing so will cause us to “crash” off the end of the short runway. Repairing engine FOD will be less expensive than repairing bent props and broken landing gear!
Landing: I know this may seem out of order, since we must have landed on this marginal strip before we had to depart. Yes, of course, but I chose to start the discussion with the start-up, taxi, and departure so I have saved this for last.
Engine anti-ice, ice vanes, should be extended before we touch down. For some models, this is routine practice; for others, it is not. Even though the advantage of extended ice vanes may be small when proper use of Beta and Reverse is used, there is almost no downside to their use.
Run the propeller levers full forward before touchdown. Here is a case in which Maximum Reverse may be utilized and having the prop levers forward before doing so is imperative. Sure, it’s noisier, but so what?
Back to the issue of FOD: The chance of FOD is so small as to be nearly impossible if (A) we are moving fast enough that any disturbed ground debris will be left behind, or (B) our propeller blade angle is positive, not stirring up debris and blowing it forward. So the proper technique for using Reverse here is “Full and Fast, then Out.” By that, I mean lift those power levers immediately at touchdown and rapidly move them all the way aft and down to Maximum Reverse. (Later models require the second lift to pass behind Ground Fine.) It has been my observation through thousands of training flights that few pilots get the levers all the way back and down. Realize that, due to the arc the levers move through, the last bit of travel is achieved more by pushing toward the floor than by pulling toward the baggage compartment!
NOVEMBER 2016
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 21