Turboprops

Kenny Dichter, the former vice chairman of NetJets and creator of the jet card concept as founder of Marquis Jet, is pouring his creative energy into a new endeavor anchored around the workhorse Beechcraft King Air 350i. Dichter’s new company, Wheels Up, has placed an order for 105 of the versatile twin turboprops and full […]

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX on Wipline 8750 floats has completed certification flight testing and performance testing, Wipaire announced on Tuesday. The float-equipped airplane also completed FAA Type Inspection Authorization this week, with certification of the float package expected this July. For years, the short-body Cessna 208A models have been the only Caravans equipped […]

“This is what flying is all about,” I thought to myself as we sped along the surface of the ­Willamette River, the beyond-crisp western Oregon air rushing past. Our trusty fishing guide extraordinaire, Chad Wiest, from On the Line Guide Service, directed our boat by intuition, through the near darkness to a spot that promised […]

Blackhawk Modifications this week got the nod from the FAA for its STC upgrade for the Cessna 208A Caravan, which we reported on recently. “We are very excited to now be able to offer the XP42A upgrade package to the entire Caravan fleet,” said Jim Allmon, President and CEO of Blackhawk Modifications. “The upgrade significantly […]

The Grand Caravan EX is the first Grand Caravan brawny enough to go on amphibious floats. Previous float-equipped Caravans were the short-bodied 208A models. Why did it take almost 20 years to get a Grand on floats? Easy: power, or rather, the lack thereof. The Grand is not only longer but heavier than the 208A, […]

The powerplant Cessna used in the EX is by Pratt & Whitney Canada, the same manufacturer that provided the engines used in every other Caravan Cessna has ever built. The new engine, the PT6A-140, was designed expressly for the Caravan EX. The 140 puts out a whopping 867 shaft horsepower at 1,900 rpm — the […]

Last year at AirVenture, Cessna rolled out its latest Caravan, and it is the most powerful Cessna-built 208 yet. The new model will maintain its 208B designation, but it will give operators a great deal more power, thanks to a new Pratt & Whitney turboprop engine — the PT6-140 — which Pratt developed expressly for […]

Waco, Texas-based Blackhawk Modifications is getting close to achieving STC approval for its Cessna 208A XP42A upgrade package, which replaces the 675 shp Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114A with an 850 shp PT6A-42A engine spinning a 100-inch-diameter Hartzell four-blade prop. The performance of the new engine is monitored by Blackhawk’s Hawkeye DigiLog engine gauges and the […]

Diamond Aircraft is showing an intriguing mockup of the DA50 Turbine at the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany this week. The proposed model would be an upgraded version of Diamond’s developmental DA50 Magnum piston single, with power coming from a 450 shp AI-450S turbine engine built by Ukrainian company Motor Sich JSC. Diamond is showing […]

Beechcraft has filed suit in the Court of Federal Claims contesting the U.S. Air Force’s decision to reject its protest of a multimillion-dollar light attack aircraft contract awarded to Embraer earlier this month. In a statement Beechcraft said the Government Accountability Office (GAO) continues to review its protest of the $428 million Light Aircraft Support […]