Many King Air pilots are confused about how to define an aircraft cycle. For maintenance purposes a cycle is defined as the period of time from initial start to shutdown of the engine that includes a start up, an increase to full power required for a flight regime and then a complete engine shutdown. So in normal operations, the number of landings is equal to the number of aircraft and engine cycles. Of course, keeping track of these numbers is important for maintenance events and should be reported to your shop prior to any inspections.