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The Historical Timeline of a King Air Charter

Just three months prior to that announcement, on May 15, 1963, the company had accepted a military contract for a program called NU-8F; this program required them to test fly a version of its Queen Air airframe that was built with turboprop engines. The results of this testing procedure went so well that it inspired the Beech Aircraft Corporation to announce the development of King Air charters.
 
On July, 1964, the delivery of the very first King Air charter took place. To give you an idea of just how popular these jets are the first production model was identified as serial number 6; this model came off of the assembly line on September 9, 1964. By January of 1966, production had increased quickly and as a result Beech had delivered one hundred King Air charter jets.
 
At the beginning of 1966, the first major modification to the King Air charter series came. The company introduced the King Air A90 business turboprop for sale. The PT6A engines were upgraded from the -6 version to the -20 version. This gave the jet better performance at altitude. There were also noticeable improvements made to the pressurization system of the jet. By increasing the psi from 3.5 to 4.6, the cabin comfort and ability to cruise at higher altitudes was present. As a result of these dramatic changes, the A90 King Air charter was ranked at a higher level than its predecessor.

Honorary mention should also be given for the sale of the first military versions of the King Air charter aircraft to the U.S. government. This was a major milestone that occurred in 1966 and is considered today to be a major point in history. Beech won a contract with the U.S. army for 48 U-21 aircraft worth a grand total of $9.8 million. Simply put, the U-21 is an un-pressurized version of a King Air charter. In fact, this model is almost identical to the NU-8F airplanes that were used to develop the King Air charter power plant installation. The reason why the U-21 development and delivery is so important in history because it marked the first delivery of more than 1,000 King Air charter models that would be delivered to the United States military and other governments around the world.

In September of 1968, the 400-unit milestone was passed; this was simply due to the unbelievable increase of business. For pilots of piston engine twins, the thought of being able to fly a King Air charter was proving to be a very popular upgrade. The fact of the matter was that the King Air charters turbine engines were much easier to manage and proved to be much more reliable that the air-cooled piston engines. Furthermore, there was an impressive amount of more power available at low altitudes, so even if there happened to be an engine failure, the aircraft would still have plenty of climb ability.

Beech had another surprise for the air travel industry, in May of 1969, the first stretched King Air charter – the Model 100 was introduced. This aircraft had an additional three feet to the length of the cabin and each side was designed with five round cabin windows. The wing and tail of the Model 100 were duplicated from the Beech 99 Airliner, which had made its debut the year before. This jet had been specifically designed for the regional jets for sale market that had just started to develop.

As you can see, from the above information there is a large and vast history behind a King Air charter. These jets have contributed greatly to the success of businesses around the globe! As of 2009, Beech Aircraft which is now known as Hawker Beechcraft celebrated 45 years of success of King Air charters.