Beechcraft King Air 250 Charter Flights
Beechcraft’s King Air 200 series is the best selling turboprop business aircraft of all time. With the newest addition to the family tree, the King Air 250, the American-based manufacturer took a great platform and made it even better. At the heart of the King Air brand is versatility and reliability. Unveiled in 2010, these aircraft can be counted on to perform just about any task you ask of them. And they will do it well. They’re often used for:
- Hauling cargo to hard-to-reach airports
- Flying corporate travelers to restrictive city airports
- Whisking family and friends away for vacations
Compared to other aircraft in its class, the King Air 250 features two distinct performance advantages:
- It is one of the best aircraft available in terms of short runway capability
- It has exceptional hot-and-high performance
Fly Anywhere, Anytime
When you put those two qualities together, there aren’t many places the King Air 250 can’t fly. For example, at sea level, it needs just 2,111 feet of runway for takeoff. And that’s when it’s carrying a full load! If you raise the airfield elevation to 5,000 feet and 77 degrees F, it needs just 3,099 feet of runway to get airborne. As a result of this takeoff performance, the air charter associates at Stratos Jets have a greater range of airports to choose from when planning flights for our clients aboard the 250. While the maximum seating capacity for the 250 allows for up to 10 passengers, it ideally seats between six and eight. The aircraft’s innovative square-oval cabin design makes full use of the available cabin space, which measures
- 16 feet, 8 inches long
- 4 feet, 9 inches tall
- 4 feet, 6 inches wide
Additionally, there’s 55 cubic feet (550 pounds) of internal storage, conveniently positioned to the right of the airstair.
The Legacy Continues
Over the past 50 years, Beechcraft, now a subsidiary of Textron Aviation, has churned out more than 5,000 King Airs. The program dates back to 1964 when the company began working on the Model 90. In that time, the competition has come and gone. Now, only Beechcraft remains. In the 1980, they went up against the likes of:
- Cessna
- Piper
- Mitsubishi
- Swearingen
However, those manufacturers no longer produce pressurized, turbine-powered aircraft. Even Beechcraft has simplified its production to a choice of four King Air models, including the:
- C90CTx
- 250
- 350ER
- 350i
And as the newest upgrade in the fleet, the 250 brings plenty of innovation. Beechcraft teamed up with a trio of aftermarket firms to introduce some significant upgrades, including:
- Ram-air recovery system (Raisbeck Engineering)
- Carbon fiber winglets (BLR)
- Composite, four-blade propellers (Hartzell)
As a result, the King Air 250, which is equipped with a pair of state-of-the-art Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-52 engines, enjoys a top cruising speed of 356 mph. That’s peppy enough to seriously close in on some of the smaller, faster ‘very light jets’ that are out there. As an added bonus, the all-composite propellers are quieter than previous version, which were made of aluminum. And because most travelers use the 250 primarily for short-to-medium range excursions (up to 1,720 nautical miles), the time difference between it and those very light jets has become quite minimal. Two other noteworthy advantages that the King Air 250 holds over competitors are its climbing ability and maximum service ceiling. It rises up to 35,000 feet in just 23 minutes. That cruising altitude is about 10,000 feet higher than most other aircraft in this class, which makes charter flights in the 250 safer and smoother.
