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waited for the original to come back into service. Vierling said once the plane was available, it seemed like every day the weather was worse than the day before. He was running out of time before he had planned to pick up the King Air in France. “So,” he explained, “Tom Baxter from Capital City Aviation at Ohio State University flew a Twin Star to Cincinnati and moved into my house. We flew twice a day, every day, until I was ready for my check ride.” Three weeks later, Vierling was headed to France to pick up his King Air.
It took four days to bring the King Air back. Along for the trip was his wife, Marielou, his instructor/former Cirrus partner Ken, and David Garvey of Aviation Training Management (ATM), a flight instructor who had many hours in King Airs and experience with trans- Atlantic flights. “David did the hard work of all the flight planning and while I flew the King Air most of the trip, he was there to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid,” Vierling said.
They retrieved the C90B in Leon, stopped in Leeds, England, for fuel and went on to Scotland where they stayed overnight. The next morning, they flew to Iceland and spent the rest of the day sightseeing. The following
day was when Vierling experienced the runway in Greenland where they had to stop for fuel, then they overnighted in Goose Bay, Newfoundland, where the snow was piled as high as the top of the windows. The final day, they traveled to Bangor, Maine, where they went through customs and then on to Dayton.
The King Air immediately went to Stevens Aviation in Dayton for a complete renovation – new avionics (G1000), a customized interior and exterior. “I got to do what I set out
to do: purchase an aircraft I could afford and have it customized the way I wanted,” he said. “Once it was complete, it looked like it came right out of the factory.”
As soon as the C90B was updated, Vierling immediately started transition training. “It’s a significant jump to go to a King Air from a Cirrus, but a big part of that is getting used to the avionics and since I had already flown with the G1000 that part was a little easier for me,” he said. “Getting used to a much bigger and heavier aircraft, managing the jet engines – there’s a learning curve to that, and flying at a much faster speed and getting used to carefully planning your descent and reaching the runway at the right pace for a controlled landing, were some of the challenges I faced.”
While undergoing its refurbishment,
the panel and interior of the C90B was totally stripped down to metal and wires.
NOVEMBER 2016
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 7