Flight Training - November/December 2020 - 17

RAMP APPEAL

BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN

QUICK LOOK

Looking to buy?
See how the King Air
C90B measures up
How much:
$500,000 to
$1.8 million
Buy it: If you want a
delightfully honest and
versatile airplane and
are willing to pay the
higher fuel and maintenance costs that come
with a twin. King Airs
are known for being
easy to ﬂy, stable in
the air, and simple to
land
Skip it: If you don't
need two turbine
engines.

KING AIR C90B
STILL IN DEMAND

THE KING AIR WASN'T SUPPOSED TO DO

so much, or last so long. But after 55
years of continuous production, the
versatile twin turboprops are still in
demand. At any given time, King Airs
are performing missions as varied as
military surveillance, medical air ambulances, and luxury corporate travel.
One of the most popular and distinctive King Air models is the C90B, or
"baby King Air," which was manufactured from 1982 until 2005. Like most
King Airs, the C90B is powered by a pair
of Pratt & Whitney PT6A turboprop
engines. The C90B also has four-blade
propellers to reduce cabin noise and
vibration.
When King Air pilots want to land
short, they pull the throttles back as
soon as the wheels touch down, then
lift the levers over a gate on the throttle quadrant and pull them back to the
reverse thrust position. Doing so enables
a fully loaded C90B to decelerate from
an initial touchdown at about 90 knots
to a stop in less than 1,000 feet. They
can carry large and sometimes bulky
loads and have superlative short-ﬁeld
performance. The main reason they can
get into short runways so well is their
reversible propellers.

For takeoff, acceleration from two
550-horsepower engines is rapid, and
the airplanes are easily capable of
using short, high-elevation runways
that would be totally off limits to corporate jets.
A variety of airplanes were supposed
to put an end to the King Air reign,
starting with Beech's very own Starship.
The futuristic canard design couldn't
match the King Air's performance, however, and production soon ended.
The single-engine Pilatus PC-12 has
the same cabin size as some King Air
models and all the cost and efficiency
advantages that come with one engine,
but King Air customers are willing to
pay for the redundancy of a second
engine. Piper and Cessna created their
own twin turboprops-the Cheyenne
and Conquest-but both programs were
relatively short lived. A variety of light
jets that ﬂy at higher altitudes and faster
speeds than turboprops were supposed
to cut into King Air turf, but none can
match the load-carrying ability or
higher fuel efficiency.
Some King Airs have autofeather
and rudder boost. Should an engine fail,
these features kick in automatically to
reduce drag by feathering the failed

SPEC SHEET
King Air C90B
Powerplant(s)
Length
Height
Wingspan
Seats

(2) 550-horsepower Pratt &
Whitney PT6A-21
35 ft 6 in
14 ft 3 in
50 ft 3 in
6 or 7

Performance
Max takeoff weight
Max cruise speed
Range

10,100 lb
245 KTAS
1,200 nm

engine's propeller and applying rudder to
overcome asymmetric thrust forces. Even
on one engine, climb rates can be as much
as 500 fpm.
Several aftermarket ﬁrms, most
notably Blackhawk Modiﬁcations and
Raisbeck Engineering, offer engine,
avionics, and interior upgrades for King
Airs that increase performance and
extend their lifespans. Don't expect
them to go away in your lifetime.
dave.hirschman@aopa.org

AOPA.ORG/FT

17
http://www.AOPA.ORG/FT
Flight Training - November/December 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - November/December 2020
