I would like opionions on the "hot 5" I have been flying King Air 90's and 200's for a while now and occationally will have a 2 pilots on board. It seems as though a few people think the "hot 5" are pitot heat left, pitot heat right, Fuel vent heat left, fuel vent heat right, and stall warning. I always thought it was 1) pitot heat left and right, 2)fuel vent heat left and right 3) stall warning 4) winshield and 5) props.
The reason I bring this up is b/c a few people I fly with will turn on pitot L, R, Fuel vent L, R and stall and thats it. The reason these other pilots giver for this is either b/c they say the winshield costs $11,000 a side (or seomthing like that) or that it increases the load too much. My theory is that if you decide to put any anti/de-icing devices on is that it is all or nothing. If you are concerned about ice on the pitot, fuel vent, or stall warning you should also be concerned about props and the winshield. All the anti/de-icing devices are there for a reason and you should use them reguardless of cost replacement. And as far as load on the generators is concerned-the plane is designed to handle those loads!
My experience has taught me that if you turn on just a few of these items, it gives you a false sense of security. I was desending one day w/ out the winshield heat on (b/c I didn't want the extra load) and just b4 I went through a cloud layer I glanced at my icing switches and made the assumption that everthing was on. Low and behold, the winshield iced up quickly. No big deal, but like I said, a false sense of security.
What do you guys think?
The reason I bring this up is b/c a few people I fly with will turn on pitot L, R, Fuel vent L, R and stall and thats it. The reason these other pilots giver for this is either b/c they say the winshield costs $11,000 a side (or seomthing like that) or that it increases the load too much. My theory is that if you decide to put any anti/de-icing devices on is that it is all or nothing. If you are concerned about ice on the pitot, fuel vent, or stall warning you should also be concerned about props and the winshield. All the anti/de-icing devices are there for a reason and you should use them reguardless of cost replacement. And as far as load on the generators is concerned-the plane is designed to handle those loads!
My experience has taught me that if you turn on just a few of these items, it gives you a false sense of security. I was desending one day w/ out the winshield heat on (b/c I didn't want the extra load) and just b4 I went through a cloud layer I glanced at my icing switches and made the assumption that everthing was on. Low and behold, the winshield iced up quickly. No big deal, but like I said, a false sense of security.
What do you guys think?
Last edited: