9 members · 6 posts · Beechcraft King Air
Flying, fixing, and buying the King Air. 90s through 350s, part 91 and 135. Hot section timing, single engine handling, and why this thirty year old turboprop still wins the mission.
Say the model and the series. A 200 and a 350 are not the same airplane and half the bad advice on the internet comes from people who think they are.
Ray Ortiz (pinned)
Model and series, every post. I have watched somebody take hot section advice meant for a 200 and apply it to a 350 and it cost the owner real money. They are cousins, not twins.
Hank Delacroix
EMS runs King Airs for the fixed wing transports and the reason is boring and correct: it will get into a 3,500 foot strip at a rural hospital, it has two engines and known ice, and a mechanic in any state can work on it. Nothing newer does all three for the money.
Salvatore Ricci
Parts desk, joining at Ray's suggestion. King Air owners: the three items I see ground airplanes for a week are the fuel drain, the bleed air valve, and anything in the pressurisation controller. If you fly this airframe hard, stock the drain. It is eleven dollars and it is nine weeks out.
Ray Ortiz
Cracked exhaust stack on a 350 during a routine 100 hour, hairline, hiding behind the heat shield. Owner asked to monitor it. Posting the photo equivalent in words because I want every operator here to go look at theirs. It is a ten minute check and you need the cowl fully off.
Grace Hollis
Operator perspective on why we still buy these. Short field, gravel if we have to, known ice, two engines, and parts you can get in most of North America on a Tuesday. There is no jet in our price range that does that mission and I do not expect there to be one.
Priya Raman
Single engine work in the 350 in the sim last week. First time in three years and I was rustier than I expected on the initial actions, sharper than I expected on the rest. Recurrent is worth the two days for exactly this reason: you find out which half went soft.