Page 28 - Volume 14 Number 10

ASK THE EXPERT
with unsuccessful outcomes – going off the end or side of the runway, incurring major damage and, often, resulting in death to the occupants.
The procedure I was taught by the FlightSafety team in Wichita was to reposition my right hand from the thrust levers (“throttles” for us piston-trained types) onto the control wheel when the V1 call was made by the PNF (Pilot-Not- Flying). That helped to ensure that the thrust levers would never be erroneously retarded to initiate a stopping procedure after Decision Speed (the name for which V1 is the abbreviation) was reached ... when the going procedure was the correct and expected reaction to the recognition of a power loss.
I can definitely see the benefit of repositioning the right hand as airspeed passes Decision Speed for airplanes that have guaranteed capability to continue on the remaining engine. All the airliner jets, certified under FAR 25 rules, do it this way and rightly so. How about King Airs?
What King Air are you operating? Just counting standard, civilian models there are over 25 different types, each with its own flight manual. The certification rules decide what performance charts must be in that manual. As years pass, as rules change, as aircraft categories change, as maximum takeoff weight changes ... all of these variables have an impact on what performance charts are presented in the flight manual. Heck, most King Air models don’t even list a V1 speed!
From a legal standpoint, must the operator comply with all of the charts in the POM (Pilot’s Operating Manual) or POH (Pilot’s Operating Handbook)? Surprisingly, the answer is no. With the exception of the 300-series, all King Airs are “light twins” since their maximum takeoff weight does not exceed 12,500 pounds. Unlike the
heavier airplanes that fall in the Transport Category of rules, there is no requirement for a light twin to have the ability to continue a takeoff with an engine failure. Yes, Beech does the flight testing that allows performance charts to be created that give both Accelerate- Stop Distance and Accelerate-Go Distance under differing conditions of weight, OAT and wind. But they are for information only with no requirement to operate off runways that are long enough to meet these distances. That’s a darn good thing, too! Taking your B90 into that 3,000-foot-long strip located near the boss’s lakeside cabin would not be possible if “big boy” rules applied.
As we all should know, there is a calculated risk factor associated with many of the runways we use: There will be seconds of time during the takeoff when we will be going fast enough that we will go off the end of the runway if we abort and yet we are still slow enough that we won’t be able to climb enough on one engine to clear the obstacles beyond the runway. With the reliability of turbine engines, the risk that an engine will fail during these critical few seconds of time is a risk most of us are willing to take.
However, what if the unlikely but possible event does occur? What if one of our PT6s does indeed have a catastrophic failure at, say 95 knots? If we abort under these assumed conditions, use the brakes to their maximum and maintain directional control, we will perhaps still be going 30 knots when we hit the ditch. But if we try to fly at 95 knots?! We are still more than 10 knots below single engine best-rate- of-climb speed (VYSE, Blue Line), we have not yet started retracting the gear, and unless we are equipped with autofeather we still have tons of windmilling propeller drag. If we try to continue it will be very likely
we will lose airspeed as we try to climb in this impossible situation and quickly encounter the deadly VMC loss of control. At best, if we keep the nose down to maintain airspeed and control, we hit the trees still going 90 knots. Abort, hit the ditch at 30. Try to continue, hit the trees at 90. Let’s see: Three times the speed is nine times the kinetic energy to dissipate. There is a lot more chance we will live through the 30-knot hit into the ditch, eh?
So, where I am going with this is to state that my right hand is staying on the power levers at least until I am above nearby obstacles and the airspeed is at least at VYSE. Why? So, I can readily pull the power levers to Idle to initiate the abort. Isn’t this exactly what we should do in most other light twins? Due to the King Air’s increased single engine climb capability compared to a Baron, our seconds of exposure to bad risk during takeoff from short runways is less than in a Baron but it is still there.
So when does my right hand leave the power levers? If I am flying single-pilot, it does so when I reach for the landing gear handle. And when is that? When continuing looks more favorable than stopping. But as soon as the gear handle is up, I return my hand to the power levers. With the exception of the brand- new, just announced King Air 360 model, no other King Airs have any power limiters except for the human controlling those power levers. It is the pilot’s job to adjust the levers to get the torque or ITT value that is desired. As the airplane climbs, adjustments will have to be made. Hence, the right hand spends a lot of time on the power levers. It is not a “select the correct detent and forget” as in the FADEC-equipped turbines. (FADEC? Full Authority Digital Engine Control)
I hope that almost all who are reading this article are familiar
26 • KING AIR MAGAZINE
OCTOBER 2020