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Airfleet Capital, Inc. For this discussion, let’s assume you have a $500,000 to $800,000 budget, rou- tinely fly six passengers with bags, and travel less than 1,000 nm on your bread- and-butter f lights. There are several airplanes you might consider, but two that will probably make your shortlist are the King Air 200 and the King Air C90. I fly both frequently, so I thought it would be good to leap into the gap and relate my thoughts. The King Air 90 first appeared in the mid-1960s and quickly became a work- horse for business and private aviation. Normally configured with seven total seats (two crew seats, four in club seat- ing, and a belted toilet), the King Air 90 can haul a load. The basic fuselage has not changed greatly over the years, but Beechcraft has added bigger engines (E90/F90/F90-1), upgraded avionics and a gorgeous tricked-out interior as the years have progressed. With more than 3,100 airframes built in the long production run (over 50 years), there’s no doubt that the 90 series is well-liked. The King Air 200 boasts a larger cabin (two crew seats, seven cabin seats, and a belted toilet), has bigger engines (PT6- 42) and larger wing (more fuel), and a large aft storage area. The 200 series is easily the best-selling turboprop of all time (more than 3,800 built since 1972), with Textron Aviation continuing to roll the latest King Air 200 series (King Air 250) off the line today. The past has been great for the 200 series, and the future looks even brighter for this completely capable airplane. When contrasting the two, the 200 is bigger, faster and carries more, but it also costs more to purchase and feed. So, do the advantages of the 200 outweigh the cost efficiencies of the 90? Which one should you buy if you have six-per- son/1,000 nm mission and budget under $1 million? Let’s explore some of the nuances before answering that question. To me, one of the greatest advantages of the King Air 200 over the King Air 90 is pressurization. The 200 has a maxi- mum differential pressure of 6.5 psi while the 90 sits at 4.6 psi. While those two numbers may not seem dramati- cally different, the practical application means that a 90 will rarely be operated at FL230 (or above) because the cabin pressure will be over 10,000 ft. “Home” for the 90 is the upper teens and lower 20s, so the cabin altitude is kept lower. On the other hand, the 200 can fly at FL280, just under the RVSM limit, and still have a cabin altitude under 7,000 MSL. Big deal? You bet! Remember, the effects of hypoxia are exponential, and you’ll arrive at your business meeting after a long f light feeling much better if you flew that long flight at a 3,000-foot lower cabin altitude. Plus, at FL280 there’s rarely a structural icing challenge because the outside air temperature (OAT) is simply too cold for structural ice to develop. FL280 also allows the pilot to get on top of more weather. There’s also a difference in the land- ing gear between these two airplanes. The 90 has a single large tire on each 8 • TWIN & TURBINE / October 2019