Question(s) for King Air Pilots

[cheyflyer]

Not sure about the pig part and what its doing to/for you, but......

When we got ours last year, (late 90's model) it was all over the place on taxi. With just slight addition of power it would lunge left or right and could hear the props going on/off the gov (??) I guess, but would also pit a zero turn radius mower to shame on turns. I had the shop check the rigging and they made some changes and adjustments and then my steering went to hell. Also heard about the nose strut servicing issue as well and had every fitting possible on the nose greased and that seemed to help.

HBS in KSAT mentioned that from the factory they tend to underservice the nose due to grease squirting out and getting all over the plane, so if yours is new, have them grease the strut if you are having problems turning. Mine seems to be doing fine now, taxi's straight and turns ok, not as good as before but I dont think I look drunk on taxi anymore.

cf

 

[cvsfly]

Since we're talking 350, the props will not flatten on you when you pull the power back to idle in the flare because of the ground/flight low pitch stops (not in the 200/B200). I always eased them up to full forward on final to be ready for a go around, as mentioned above by hawker800.
As for the ground handling, the differential power technique works wonders.
I rarely did the full runup with pax on board, but I had lots of empty legs to make sure the stuff was working...

Forgot about the low pitch stop on 350 and F90. No experience on 350, but F90 with 4 blade will still flatten a bit (to the stop) with idle power. Best appr are with a little power all the way to touch down.

 

[Hawker800]

Steering issues. There is a plate located in the nose wheel bay held in place by four bolts. I forget what it is called but attaches to the steering arm. They worked loose on mine and it jerked all over the place. Maintenance could not find the issue until a new helper was cleaning the extra lube off. He spotted the loose bolts. That fixed the problem. Those having such problems may want to have this checked.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

You guys are great. Thanks for those tips on the nose steering. It seems to wander off on its own with just the least bit of inattention (like when you are trying to accomplish taxi checks) . Yes, it is a nearly new 350 and it does not fly all that much either. I'll talk with our techs about the adjustments/rigging and the possible lack of grease. Then again, it could just be all in my head.