Air Ambulance BE20 (KLNK)

[jergar999]

The hospital I work for is currently negotiating with a broker who has a buyer for the BE10 we are currently flying and a BE20 already configured for air ambulance as part of the deal. The aircraft they are looking at is a 1980 200, and rumor is it is currently in LNK. I'm assuming the aircraft is owned by a Lincoln based charter company whose name I shall not mention.

Basically, I'm wondering if any of the multiple posters who have worked there know any specifics about this airplane (particularly maintenance) that a prospective buyer might want to know.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[G-force]

To Jergar999

The aircraft you are referring to is N280SC,a BE-200,when it came on certificate at LNK, at the FBO's charter dept. that shall remain nameless,in July 2001,it supposedly had between 4k and 5k hrs.total airframe, and had fresh overhauls. It cannot have flown much more than 1k hrs since then.Check with the operator at LNK.
Goodluck!!!!!
G-force

 

[pilotman121]

Air Ambulance Operator (LNK)

Sorry to say, both of those aircraft are in really bad condition.When they were purchased the aircraft were in good condition and unfortunitly the current operator does not keep them in very good shape. I know the King-Air 200 was hot started numerious times and the King-Air 100 is a pile of junk with 13,000 hours.This is a real good case of buyer beware!

 

[G-force]

To jergar999

By all means,if your firm is considering a purchase,do a very thorough PRE-BUY INSPECTION and also a very thorough RECORDS CHECK on the aircraft in question,at a maintenance shop that is REPUTABLE.

Best of Luck!!!!!

 

[avbug]

How does one "hot start" a king air numerous times? It's hard enough to hot it once, let alone repeatedly.

Are the batteries completely dead, along with the pilots flying it?

 

[onthebeach]

1981 was the first year for the B200, so this 1980 aircraft should be a straight 200 with the -41 engines. You'll have some temp-limiting problems when flying in and out of hot & high strips.

Ditto on the pre-buy inspection, but of course this applies to any aircraft purchase that exercises the proper due diligence.

Hope all goes well, enjoy your King Air. They really dress up any ramp that has a lot of jet trash parked there.

 

[avbug]

I can't recall ever having any temp issues in a BE20 with -41 engines, or with -42 engines. Even operating exclusively out of hot, high density altitude mountain fields. It has to be a pilot thing.

 

[pilotman121]

Hot Starts On King-Air 200

This was a common problem on this King-Air 200.It was caused by pilot neglect and an abundance of new hires,with little or no training.The FBO where the aircraft are based, had very bad maintenance practices.

 

[jergar999]

Thanks for all the replies. The aircraft is advertised as having both engines timed out, so both would go to Dallas Airmotive or the like before delivery. The hot start thing made some bells go off for me too. As long as battery voltage is there, I have never seen our -28's even come close to the operating limit, much less the start line. Being Canadian must mean cooler starts. The Garretts (TPE-331-5's) are a much different story though.

 

[avbug]

Even if the battery condition is low, there is no excuse for a hot start. If the battery won't spin up enough to get the engine through a stable start in one shot, the fuel may be cut off briefly and then restored. This drops the termperature without any notable RPM droop, the engine begins to accelerate again from a lower temperature, and two or three cutoffs ("blips") results in the engine coming on speed on-temperature without hot starting.

If the engine is hot starting, it's pilot error.

The -45R runs like that, and pilot modulation of the fuel to control temperature is SOP. It's not uncommon on other types of turbine engines, either. Certain of the Allison C250, and various pratts sometimes require the same thing. Especially when starting on the battery. The bottom line is that the most basic duty of the pilot during the start is to monitor, and use the cutoff function of the engine control to prevent an overtemp. If the engine is overtemping, somebody needs their butt kicked...and quite possibly fired.