Beechcraft King Air C90

The King Air 90 series is where the best-selling turboprop family in history began: Beechcraft mated two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A free turbines to a pressurized Queen Air-derived airframe in 1964, and kept building straight-tail 90s for 57 years. This page covers the conventional-tail, 550-shp-class line — Model 90 through C90B — which accounts for well over 2,000 airframes and remains the most affordable way into cabin-class turbine twin ownership. The follow-on C90GT/GTi/GTx (2006-2021) is the same airframe with PT6A-135A engines and is a materially different — and much more expensive — airplane, so it has its own page. So do the T-tail F90 and the larger 200/B200.

What the C90 sells is not speed — a Malibu will outrun the early ones — but two turbines, a real cabin with a 5.0 psi pressure vessel, docile handling, a huge support network, and dispatch reliability piston twins cannot match. It is flown by owner-pilots stepping up from piston twins and singles, small charter and medevac operators, and flight departments that value the type's forgiving manners. No type rating is required (under 12,500 lb), which makes insurance, not the FAA, the gatekeeper.

The frontmatter describes a C90B (1992-2005): the last and most refined of the line, with four-blade props, dynamic vibration absorbers, and a 10,100 lb gross weight. On the FAA type certificate the C90B and C90SE are commercial designations of the C90A — a fact that matters when reading the TCDS and ADs.

The E90's "680 hp" seen in listings is the PT6A-28's thermodynamic rating; installed it is flat-rated to 550 shp, same as the C90 — its advantage is holding that power to altitude, not more of it. (The old catalog page carried 680, which was the trap this rewrite exists to fix.)

The frontmatter triple is one regime from AOPA's 2003 C90B evaluation: 246 KTAS at maximum power in the 16,000-20,000 ft band, burning 88 gph (592 pph), which yields 738 nm with four passengers and NBAA IFR reserves. That is the airplane flown fast and low. Flown the way most owners actually fly it — FL210-FL290 — plan on 220-230 KTAS at 65-75 gph, and at maximum-range power the same airplane does 196 KTAS at 46 gph for 1,049 nm with reserves. Plane & Pilot's 1,264-mile range figure appears to be a statute-mile or long-range-cruise number and was not stored.

Climb is honest: 2,010 fpm at sea level at gross, 495 fpm single-engine. The certified maximum altitude is 30,000 ft, but the PT6A-21 is breathless up there; the practical band is FL210-FL260. Stall speeds stored are the C90's at 9,650 lb (76 kt landing config / 89 kt clean) — the C90B at 10,100 lb stalls a knot or two faster; Beech did not publish a separate C90B figure in the sources reviewed.

Runway numbers stored are the C90B's: 2,710 ft over 50 ft to take off at gross, 2,290 ft over 50 ft to land (1,260 ft ground roll). A 4,000 ft strip is comfortable; 3,000 ft is possible with discipline and is how the type has served Africa and Alaska for decades.

Vmo is 226 knots and it is calibrated (KCAS) per the type certificate — stored as-is per house convention, not converted.

C90B, 10,100 lb gross, 6,980 lb equipped empty, 384 gal (2,573 lb) usable:

The full-fuel payload is the honest limitation of the type: 547 lb. The E90 is often said to fix that, and this page used to say it — it does not. The E90 carries 90 more gallons, but they weigh about 600 lb against a 450 lb gross-weight increase, so its full-fuel payload is lower. What the E90 buys is range, not load. A buyer who needs to carry weight should look at a B200. No zero-fuel-weight limit on the C90B simplifies loading. The practical airplane is 4 people, bags, 600 nm, one fuel stop on a coast-to-coast — for half the operating cost of a B200.

Related pages: King Air C90GT/GTi/GTx, King Air F90, King Air 200/B200, King Air 350, Pilatus PC-12, Piper Cheyenne I/II, Cessna 425 Conquest I, valuation-methodology, engine-overhaul-pricing, insurance-underwriting, maintenance-ecosystem, business-travel, cross-country

Business travel (8/10). Four to five passengers, 500-700 nm legs, pressurized comfort, into 3,500 ft strips. It gives up 40-60 knots to a B200 and real money per hour to a PC-12, but nothing this side of $1M does the mission with two turbines.

Cross-country (8/10). Boots, radar, known-ice, FL250 weather-topping. Two legs across the continent instead of a B200's one.

Surveying (7/10). Stable, 5+ hour endurance with survey fuel loads, easy camera/sensor installs; decades of survey and air-ambulance service.

Cargo hauling (5/10). ~2,100-3,100 lb useful load depending on variant and equipment; no cargo door on most. Dense freight only.

Backcountry (3/10). It will use good 3,000 ft unimproved strips — bush operators have proven it — but gear, props and boots are expensive down there.

Flight training (2/10). Turbine transition and recurrent platform only.

Local fun (2/10), Aerobatics (1/10). $700+/hr direct; transport-category manners.

• Pre-1984 aircraft: Collins/King radios, mechanical gyros. Heavily discounted unless upgraded; budget $150K-$250K for dual GTN Xi + G600 TXi + ADS-B if not done.
• C90A/C90B factory panels: Collins Pro Line II era; EFIS-equipped late C90Bs exist. Serviceable; CRT and gyro support is the pain point.
• The common refresh: dual Garmin GTN 750Xi/650Xi, GTX 345, G600 TXi, keeping the original autopilot overhauled — the panel most 2026 listings advertise.
• Garmin G1000 NXi retrofit (Textron-supported for 90-series): $300K+; transforms resale on late C90Bs.

A strong autopilot and a radar that actually paints matter more than glass. See Avionics Pricing Reference.

• Blackhawk XP135A — replaces PT6A-21s with -135As, effectively building a C90GT out of a C90A/B (~$800K+ installed; see the GT page for what it buys).
• Raisbeck — swept-blade props (certified for the C90 series in 2014), dual aft-body strakes, ram-air recovery, wing lockers. The most common mod package on the fleet.
• BLR winglets, Frakes exhaust stacks, Hartzell 4-blade conversions on 3-blade airplanes.
• Commuter/cargo interiors and air-ambulance conversions are widespread — verify the paperwork and the interior weight.

See Maintenance Ecosystem.

• Parts: excellent. Textron still supports the line; the PT6A side is the best-supported turbine ecosystem in aviation.
• Mechanics: common — every turboprop shop knows King Airs; your field A&P does not.
• Annual/phase: $15,000-$35,000 routine; $60,000-$120,000 in a SID/corrosion year on an old airframe.
• Hot section: ~$45,000/side at 1,800 hr. Overhaul: ~$205,000-$275,000/side flat-rate (stored $250,000) at 3,600 hr — ~$500,000 for the pair.
• Direct operating cost: ~$700-$900/hr with reserves. At 150 hr/yr with hangar, insurance, training and subscriptions, plan $180,000-$230,000/yr all-in — the stored estimate is $200,000.

See Aircraft Valuation Methodology. Asking-price bands (2026 market):

Engine status dominates: a $250K-per-side overhaul against a $600K airframe means run-out C90s trade near salvage-plus-green-time. Program enrollment (P&WC ESP, JSSI) or fresh Vector/StandardAero overhauls carry the value. Avionics generation is the second axis; boots, paint, interior third. Asking is not selling — Vref-style retail for clean mid-time C90Bs runs meaningfully below the top asks.

• AD 2020-26-16 (wing lower forward fittings): applies across 90/100/200/300 series — repetitive inspection for fatigue cracks after a 2015 in-flight wing separation (a modified airtanker, but the AD reaches the fleet). Confirm compliance method and next due time.
• Wing attachment bolts: inspection/replacement per Beech service instructions (also reflected in the TCDS's later revisions). Ask when they were last changed.
• Beech SIDs / Structural Inspection Program: on a 40-60 year old airframe the corrosion-driven items dominate annual cost variance. Center-section and cabin-bilge corrosion, damp insulation blankets behind the sidewalls.
• PT6A-21 pattern items: compressor turbine blade creep/erosion, fuel nozzle fouling on trend, hot-section condition telegraphed by ITT margin. Buy the trend data, not the log entry.
• Landing gear: older electro-mechanical gear (motor/gearbox/torque shafts) on pre-1984 aircraft wants a shop that knows it; hydraulic on later. Insist on a gear swing.
• Pre-buy red flags: mismatched engine times, gaps around HSI events, freight/medevac interiors removed without weight documentation, boots at end of life ($40K-$60K).

See GA Insurance Underwriting and Insurance Costs. Hull runs roughly $6,000-$15,000 on typical C90 values (house turbine band $10K-$30K+ covers the fleet); liability $5,000-$10,000 at $1M smooth. Underwriters require initial school (FlightSafety/SimCom) and annual recurrent, and want roughly 1,500 TT / 500 multi / turbine time or a mentor for 25-50 hours. The C90 is the easiest King Air to place a stepping-up owner in — that is much of why it holds value.