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A Time Line of the Production of King Air Charters

King Air charters  hold a significant role in the air travel industry. They are well-built machines that provide a means of quicker transportation for many people. This jet was the first aircraft in its class and has been in continuous production since 1964. It has outsold all of its turboprop competitors combined and is the only small twin-turboprop business aircraft in production.

King Air charters are manufactured by a company called the  Beech Aircraft Corporation which is now called the Beechcraft Division of Hawker Beechcraft. The company decided at the beginning of 1966 that they were going to implement some major changes to the King Air charter series. This change came in the form of the King Air A90 business turboprop. Changes included upgrading the PT6A engines from the old -6 version to a much powerful -20 engine. What this change did was allow the jet to have better performance at high altitudes. A distinct improvement in cabin comfort was noticeable due to the change in the pressurization system.

The production rate of King Air charters continued to grow steadily over the next few years. In 1968,  the company passed the 400-unit milestone and kept on going. The turbine engines were much easier to manage and proved to be much more reliable than the air-cooled piston engines they replaced. In fact, they grew so popular that pilots from all over were upgrading from the older model planes.

Beech introduced a stretched model in May of 1969. This model was known as the Model 100. This new series of jets had a larger cabin size than their predecessors, adding an additional length of the cabin. The jet was designed with ample windows, featuring five round cabin windows on each side of the jet. Perfect for people who enjoy looking out the window while they are in the air.

I think part of the reason that Beech became so successful was simply because they were the only company in the air travel business that offered a family of King Air charters to the market. In fact, at this particular point in the company's history, the King Air was the best selling turbine business aircraft available.

The King Air Charter series accomplished a major design goal for Beech Aircraft and this goal was accomplished within the first five years of the jets production life. The company had intended for the newer 100 series of King Air charters to be an adequate replacement for the Model 18. Well their intention was indeed successful and production of the older model jet was ceased after nearly 35 years of production.

 As we move along the development time line, in 1971, the company introduced the A100 King Air charters. The gross weight of the jet was increased by 900 pounds and 96 additional gallons in fuel capacity were added to the design of the jet. What this did was increase the amount of miles that the plane would be able to travel on a full capacity of fuel. As you can see, as this particular jet continues to evolve, it becomes more and more capable.

It took the engineers at Beech nearly four years to completely finish the design of the tail for the 100-series models. They decided to redesign the wing, adding two feet to the center section and bringing the span to 54 feet, six inches. This was almost 9-feet longer than the original King Air Charter wing. There were two main reasons for the re-design which included improving the aircraft's high altitude characteristics and expanding its fuel capacity-to give it a greater flying range and the ability to feed bigger and more powerful engines.

Why do you think the company wanted bigger engines? Well, bigger engines meant higher speed and lift capabilities. The company's objective was to make improvements to the 100-series jets in virtually every area. The company was once again successful and the result of the hard work was the Model 200 King Air charters. These jets are also known as Super King Airs.

Most people may agree that describing most products as 'super' is slightly ridiculous. However, in the case of this airplane's gross sales, the name surely does fit! The engines produced 25 percent more horsepower than that A100's engines which allowed this model to cruise easily at 275 knots. Way faster than the A100- which only achieved speeds up to 230 knots.

Beech continues to make improvements to their King Air charters and as a result has become on of the leading companies in the industry. The company prides itself in high quality aircraft that are manufactured by engineers who know are well educated. King Air charters are a great, reliable, comfortable way to travel to your next air travel destination!