Page 25 - Volume 14 Number 10

out of your cockpit. Switches were flipped, breakers were pulled, levers were moved. The friction locks were loosened to check engine cables for binding.
Every pilot has their preferred “switchology.” When I had my shop, I made every effort to return the cockpit to the configuration present at drop off. With repeat customers, I learned their habits and preferences. However, in my post-maintenance debrief I always asked every pilot, every time, to check and restore all cockpit preferences.
The oxygen mic switch is a great example – when is the last time you touched that? Most likely it was in a simulator during loss of pressurization. But what if, during maintenance, an inexperienced mechanic puts all the switches in the “off” (down) position because it seemed like the right thing to do? He has no clue he just turned the O2 mike on, cutting out the regular mike in the process. Now the pilot arrives to take delivery of the aircraft; he’s in a rush to leave and has already taxied out before he realizes his mike is in-op. So, he taxis back in, shuts the engines down and barks at the shop because now he is delayed and frustrated.
This can happen in reverse also: Some pilots choose to leave systems in the “on” position all the time so they don’t have to remember to turn them on each time they fly. I’ve seen this with windshield heat, pitot heat and the vent blower, among others. When the aircraft goes in the shop and external power is applied, these systems come on. An unsuspecting mechanic touches the pitot tube and gets his fingerprints burned off.
The preflight procedure on a King Air, as specified in your POH, is a long and involved routine. Many are compelled to develop shortcuts. But if they are the only one that flies that airplane and assume the cockpit is the way they left it last, then they are bound to
encounter unwelcome surprises when they get their aircraft out of maintenance ... unless they check everything carefully.
Distractions
Back in my days at BeechWest Van Nuys, there was a very sharp owner-operator with a 200. This guy was totally “by-the-book.” One day he was preflighting out on the ramp. He had an aft cowl open when line service paged him for a phone call. He left what he was doing, went inside to take the call, then came back out and continued his preflight. On takeoff that rear cowl ripped off as soon as he rotated. That’s when he realized he had forgotten to latch the cowl properly before taking that call, and afterward he failed to backtrack over what he had been doing when he was paged.
A few years ago, an owner-operator was pre-flighting his E90 when the fuel truck operator came by to clarify his fuel request. He was on a step ladder checking his oil at the time, so he got down to talk to the fuel truck operator then finished his preflight. He loaded his passengers and took off for a weekend retreat only to lose oil pressure on one side a short while later. After some very tense moments, he got on the ground safely and found the oil dipstick on that side exactly where he laid it when the fuel truck came by. This shocked him. He was absolutely certain he had replaced that dipstick.
My late father-in-law was the epitome of a thorough and deliberate preflighter. My wife remembers many hours of cooling her heels in an FBO while her dad did his preflight routine. He kept laminated
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OCTOBER 2020
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 23