Beechcraft King Air B100

The only King Air that is not powered by a PT6. In the early 1970s a long labour dispute at Pratt & Whitney Canada halted engine supply, and Beech — with a production line to keep running — built a version of the 100-series airframe around the Garrett (now Honeywell) TPE331-6-252B, 715 shp a side. It flew in March 1975, sold from 1976 to 1983, and 137 were delivered, of which roughly 120 remain in service.

It is a faster airplane than the PT6-powered A100 by 15 to 20 knots in real use, on a slightly higher gross weight, and it has become a favourite of charter operators — Tom Clements notes it is far more common in the eastern United States than the western.

The engine is not a detail, it is the airplane. A TPE331 is a fixed-shaft turbine: compressor, turbine and propeller all rotate together, unlike the PT6's free turbine where the propeller section spins independently. That changes the starting procedure, requires dual batteries rather than one, and means a PT6 pilot needs a genuine checkout rather than a familiarisation flight. It also means a different overhaul shop, a different parts network and a different bill.

One variant across the whole run, which is unusual in this family and simplifies shopping considerably.

Two cruise numbers, both real. AOPA's spec sheet gives a maximum cruise of 265 kt. Clements gives typical cruise of about 250 kt in service, and that is what the frontmatter stores — the house rule puts the pilot press ahead of a book maximum for the figure a buyer will plan a trip on.

That 250 kt is 15 to 20 kt faster than the realistic cruise of the 100 and A100, which is the B100's central claim and the reason charter operators like it.

Range 1,120 nm. Takeoff distance 1,898 ft and landing 1,290 ft, both from AOPA's sheet — short-field figures that are genuinely good for an 11,800 lb airplane.

A great deal is deliberately blank on this page, and that is the honest state rather than an oversight. No source reviewed publishes the B100's empty weight, useful load, usable fuel, fuel flow, climb rate or service ceiling. Each of those exists on the A100 page and none of them has been copied across, because a TPE331 does not burn, climb or weigh like a PT6A. Borrowing the A100's 79 gph in particular would actively mislead a buyer costing an airplane.

Anyone with a B100 POH can close most of those fields in an afternoon, and it would be the single most valuable contribution to this page.

This section cannot be completed from published sources, and inventing it would be worse than leaving it open. No empty weight or usable fuel figure for the B100 appears in anything reviewed, so useful load and full-fuel payload cannot be derived.

What is known: 11,800 lb gross, 300 lb above the A100's 11,500, on the same airframe with a heavier engine installation. The A100 carries 1,623 lb with full tanks; a B100 is in that neighbourhood and the extra gross weight helps, but the Garrett installation's weight is not published and the direction of the difference is genuinely unknown.

Weigh the airplane and read its own weight-and-balance. That is true of any 45-year-old airframe and doubly so here, where the catalogue cannot offer a starting figure.

Related pages: King Air 100/A100, King Air E90, King Air 200/B200, Mitsubishi MU-2, Rockwell Turbo Commander, Cessna 441 Conquest II, valuation-methodology, engine-overhaul-pricing, insurance-underwriting, maintenance-ecosystem, business-travel

Business travel (8/10). The 100-series cabin — 16'8", eight to ten seats — moving 15-20 kt faster than the PT6 version, into 1,900 ft of runway.

Cross-country (8/10). 1,120 nm with the cabin full of people rather than fuel.

Cargo hauling (7/10). Long cabin, high gross weight. Charter and freight operators have proven it.

Surveying (7/10), Backcountry (2/10), Training (2/10), Local fun (2/10), Aerobatics (1/10).

As the A100: 40-plus-year-old airframes where the panel is most of the story. Budget $150,000-$250,000 for a modern refresh if it has not been done. The dual-battery electrical system is a genuine difference from every other King Air and should be understood before a pre-buy, not discovered during one.

• The Blackhawk and Raisbeck programmes that dominate the PT6 King Air market largely do not apply here, which cuts both ways: fewer upgrade paths, but also fewer airplanes carrying half-finished modification histories.
• Charter and freight interiors are common given the fleet's operating history. Verify the paperwork and the weight.

• Parts: fair. The airframe shares most of its structure with the A100, but the Garrett installation is specific to 137 airplanes and the TPE331 network is smaller than the PT6A's. This is the least-supported page in the King Air family and the rating reflects it.
• Mechanics: specialist. Any King Air shop knows the airframe; far fewer know this engine. Find the shop before buying the airplane.
• Annual/phase: $20,000-$45,000 routine, more where Garrett expertise has to travel.
• Hot section ~$55,000 a side; overhaul a stored $250,000 a side at 5,400 hr, and see the caution above about that figure.
• Direct operating roughly $800-$1,000/hr with reserves; the stored $220,000/yr assumes 150 hours all-in.

See Aircraft Valuation Methodology. Asking prices run roughly $400,000 to $850,000, modestly above comparable A100s — the speed advantage is real and the market prices it.

The Garrett is the axis of the whole valuation. Engine time dominates, and because there is no published flat rate to hold a shop to, a buyer should get a written overhaul quote from a named facility before agreeing a price rather than working from any figure on this page. The catalogue's $250,000 a side is a class band from 2015 and is explicitly not a quote.

Fleet size is the second factor. 137 built and about 120 flying is a thin market: fewer comparables, longer sale times, and a buyer who wants one specifically may pay a premium for the right airframe.

• AD 2020-26-16, lower forward wing fittings — the 90/100/200 series airframe items apply here too. Confirm compliance.
• Beech SIDs and corrosion as on any airframe of this age: centre section, cabin bilges, insulation behind the sidewalls.
• TPE331 pattern items are their own discipline. The fixed-shaft design means the propeller is geared to the engine at all times, so a prop strike is an engine event in a way it is not on a PT6 — a sudden stoppage inspection is mandatory and expensive. Ask specifically about prop strike history and read the logs for it.
• Hot section and overhaul intervals differ from a PT6A. TBO runs longer, which flatters the hourly reserve, but the shop network is smaller and quotes vary more.
• Pre-buy: get a Garrett-experienced shop, not a King Air shop that mostly sees PT6s. They are not the same inspection.

Turbine twin. Hull roughly $7,000-$15,000 on typical values, all-in $13,000-$26,000 owner-flown — see GA Insurance Underwriting and Insurance Costs. Underwriters count King Air time, but expect to be asked specifically about Garrett time: the different starting procedure and fixed-shaft handling mean a PT6 King Air pilot is not automatically current on type in an underwriter's eyes.