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Pro tip: a retired mechanic in Wichita told me to check the pitot heat before every sign-off, and his reason stuck with me
I was grabbing coffee at a shop near Wichita two weeks ago and got talking with a guy who spent 34 years on King Airs. He said he signed off a pitot heat check on a cold morning once and never touched the probe, just trusted the switch click. Twelve days later that plane went into a stall warning mess in icing conditions and the crew landed shaken, not hurt. He told me the check takes four minutes with a ramp tester and a glove. Since our shop started spot checking with an ammeter on every sign-off, we caught two weak probes in five weeks. How are you guys proving pitot heat actually draws current instead of just trusting the light?
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