Tom Clements, King Air 350

“This great 350 XP67A that I have been privileged to help crew has now gotten RVSM approval with the new owner. Monday, 12/10/18, we made a trip from Phoenix to Nashville, filing for FL330 which we were assigned. About at the NM/TX border ATC asked if we could go to FL350. Since this would put the cabin just over 10,000 feet and since we had a couple of passengers, I said we could do that but would be requesting 330 again when available. The controller said it would be for just a little over 100 miles, so we accepted the climb request.

My mind is blown. Golly, the thing zoomed up to FL350 so easily! I truly believe the two-engine service ceiling on that beast must be above FL450, at least at mid-weights. The pictures show both the TAS (and GS) and the engine instruments. We were running Blackhawk’s “Maximum Cruise Power” torques and the fuel flows were now about 350 pph per side. The no wind Specific Range comes out to be (320 knots / 695 pph) 0.460 nm/lb, which is not too shabby! That we were still truing at 320 knots up there — and it was almost exactly ISA conditions — amazed me. What a King Air!”