/ A IR WAYS / Turn square-or sink A vote for square turns BY J. MAC MCCLELLAN NEXT TIME YOU'RE taxiing onto or off the runway, or turning at a taxiway intersection, look down at the edge of the pavement. There's a good chance you'll see tire tracks going through the dirt or grass. Some lucky pilot screwed up and got away with it only leaving tracks. The airplane main wheels didn't sink in when they went off the edge of the pavement. But not every pilot is so fortunate. It was my leg in the right seat of a brand-new Beechcraft King Air 350i with only ferry time from the factory. I was head-down writing times and fuel burns when the pilot in the left seat turned off the runway and cut the corner. The big main gear tires sank into the mud, and the airplane oozed to a halt. The left-side tires were below grade. The airplane couldn't be moved forward or backward. It took hours of jacking and filling the hole with lumber to get the big turboprop out. And then the brakes had to go to the shop to be disassembled, inspected, and cleaned to get the mud out. The new airplane was out of service for several days. The only lucky aspect was that the propeller tips didn't hit the ground, because it sloped away from the pavement. There is an obvious and always successful technique to avoid dropping a wheel in the dirt. Make square taxi turns. T-6 AOPA PILOT / August 2022 CHARLES FLOYD