Page 9 - October 23

“On takeoff, the power levers are operated by the autothrottle servos after torque has reached 1,000 ft-lbs ... I like this a lot.”
set for landing, then the airplane will be unpressurized if/when the airplane descends below the selected cabin altitude. Dangerous? Not at all. But not as comfortable as if the pilot were still functioning.
The demonstrator/test B200 (N288KM, BB-1508) had a modified version of the Autoland system that did not squawk 7700 and did not talk to ATC. Aaron Newman, Garmin’s fine test pilot who was keeping me safe and legal from his right seat location, communicated with his home-base tower operator to coordinate our activities. At this time there was about a 12-knot direct crosswind from the right. I sat in amazement as the right wing dropped and the left rudder moved forward to
give us a very nice touchdown. Then the brakes slowed us smoothly to a complete stop. (The shutdown of the engines had also been disabled for the demonstrator airplane.) I will gladly admit that I could not resist moving one control myself: I had to put the landing gear handle in the down position to agree with the three green lights I saw!
The Autothrottle
Although the Autoland system impressed me the most, there is so much else in this complete system that works so impressively well. The autothrottle is very easy to use. A button on the control panel in the center of the instrument panel below the glareshield, labeled “AT,” turns
the system on or off with successive hits. It may also be disconnected by depressing either button that sits on the forward bottom portion of the slightly longer and pointed power lever knobs.
On takeoff, the power levers are operated by the autothrottle servos after torque has reached 1,000 ft-lbs ... about 50% power. I like this a lot. Why? Because two PT6s very rarely accelerate from Low Idle speed at identical rates. If the power levers are kept side-by-side initially as they are advanced for takeoff, almost always some noticeable differential thrust will be experienced. Thus, my attention is on the propeller speed gauges when I first start advancing the levers for takeoff. If one prop shows
Notice the added “AT” button that comes with the Autothrottle installation.
OCTOBER 2023
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 7