Emb 120

[jdlilfan]

try to get ahold of some of the guys who fly them for nascar teams. i iheard that Jr. E has one of skywest's old bra's.

mookie

Waltrip racing has a 'bro. Flew in once for a quick turn. Had a cartoon dog on the tail. I don't remember them taking a lot of fuel though, maybe 1600 lbs?

 

[CarjCapt]

Brakilla

Fine aircraft except for two things, no rudder auto trim (except for the flying pilot saying to the none flying pilot "Trim"), and the propeller from hell.

Prop had to have three different ways to prevent a overspeed and they didn't always work. I know I had my overspeed and thankfully it was on the ground. The fuel topping worked and stopped the overspeed at 108%. In a word Scary. By the way when the engine was feathered it actually only went 56% and I had to shut it down. The information about the prop speed and what actually happened was via the FDR.

Good aircraft just be careful with the condition levers. Slow and smooth is the mantra. Also never take off with without the electric feather pumps working my company tried to get me to fly with one broken and I refused.

 

[Coool Hand Luke]

In my oppinion the E-120 has poor flying characteristics. It is heavy on all axis, and consitently needs to be trimed. I have only flown the ER model, and the specs above are correct. The engines are very reliable, however the propellers are the planes Achiles heal. The other systems are pretty simple and reliable. Reoccuring problems are gear door locks coming un done, as well as flap dissagreements. Max speed is 272 kt and this can be achieved under power straight and level. Like most turbo props it can slow quickly. One virtue of the E-120 is its ability to land in a short distance. Are fleet of 60 are very reliable over all and we have few major mx problems.

For the record he is talking about KIAS. KTAS is 290 at reduced power (730 T6 & 900 lbs. hour in the mid 20's) and I see that every day. 300-310 KTAS if I really want it (750 T6). As for the flap problems, we never land with more than flaps 25...never had one single flap issue. I hear full flap landings will give you problems, but you sould really never need full flaps on landing now matter how short the runway. If you need full flaps, you probably don/t have the runway to get back out.

 

[indianboy7]

. If you need full flaps, you probably don/t have the runway to get back out.

It's done all the time....places like Oxnard, Imperial, Crescent City, Arcata, whenever we feel like it......full flaps landings are a non-event in the thing.......most of the time if the flap computer has a problem, it clears itself up in a few minutes.....

 

[Ben Dover]

From a pilots perspective though she is a bute to fly.

Do you have a bad memory, or did you just never encounter turbulence or icing conditions?

 

[Cardinal]

Burrito Bomber, with all the love the term entails. Like most turboprops she does really well at FL240. Certified to 32 back in the day, limited to 28 with RVSM these days. She'll get there, but if you're heavy it might take 35-40 minutes. Also it helps if it's ISA-10 or -20, but then you'll probably freeze your tail off with the packs running full tilt, so you won't want to stay there for very long.

You'll fill the cabin with smoke several times before nursing the packs becomes second nature. I did it just yesterday. The gear retracts at it's leisure, just be patient. Buy a sunshade for the cockpit. It's a pleasant aircraft, and you can't beat the capabilities (295kts, 29 pax) for 1000/lbs hr.

 

[Crizz]

Great performing plane with many quirks.

If you're 6'+ you should probably look elsewhere if you like to have feeling in your legs.

 

[CF34-3B1]

the one thing that really bugged me about it was the way the windshield heat distorted the view when you turned it on. Still don't know how they got that certified.

 

[John Pennekamp]

For the record he is talking about KIAS. KTAS is 290 at reduced power (730 T6 & 900 lbs. hour in the mid 20's) and I see that every day. 300-310 KTAS if I really want it (750 T6). As for the flap problems, we never land with more than flaps 25...never had one single flap issue. I hear full flap landings will give you problems, but you sould really never need full flaps on landing now matter how short the runway. If you need full flaps, you probably don/t have the runway to get back out.

I flew them for one company where the standard profile was flaps 25 unless performance limited. Then I flew them for ASA who always did full flaps. It lands SO much better at 25, if you use it all you must land with power or it'll drop onto the runway with a spine crushing thud most of the time. Also, at flaps 25, you're already configured for icing conditions.

We never had too many flap problems at the company that used 25, but lots at ASA with full flaps. Mostly assymetries and disagreements as opposed to outright failures. I've done several no flap landings... fast, but not a big deal to stop.

The -120 is probably the fastest turboprop of its generation. At the first company, we regularly flew them at 300TAS+ and FL280. We had 118A/B engines, which gave better climbs at higher allowable T6s. ASA pulled them back to 270ish and flew them in the low 20s with straight 118s.

Those that whine about it being a mx hog are correct, but that's with the abuse of 20 cycles per day in an airline setting. In a corporate setting I suspect that the airplane would be a lot more reliable, and cheaper to maintain.

At about $2 million per airplane on the used market, it'a about the most bang you can get for the buck in a turboprop. I'd say go for it.

 

[Cardinal]

Those that whine about it being a mx hog are correct, but that's with the abuse of 20 cycles per day in an airline setting. In a corporate setting I suspect that the airplane would be a lot more reliable, and cheaper to maintain.

I'd concur. We have a small fleet, and it becomes quite clear that each tail has a "personality." And probably 30-40% of significant write-ups are repeat items. One tail has an APU Gen that randomly kicks off line, one pops a windshield heat CB once a week, one has a funny sidetone issue. These are known issues that are just proving near impossible to fix over the course of months. If a crew is dedicated to the aircraft there won't be many surprises. Persistent annoyances, perhaps, but not broke at an outstation shockers.

 

[Chest Rockwell]

As carjcapt said, be smooth with the condition levers. Try not to lean too hard on the props for speed brakes. Fastest turboprop of its era, until the Do328 and rjs. First airplane that I flew that made me feel like I was an airline pilot.

 

[uncle_rico]

Cowboy, we are a 91 corp flight dept and we added an EMB-120 (RT) to our fleet in 2005. Purchased from Skywest who got it from Comair. Used to be 162CA. The FAA allowed us to go to a low utilization mx plan after a year of operations under our belt. Have had very few mx issues. I would for sure recommend the PW118A/B and an ER model if you will ever do much high/hot or long legs.

Don't you believe a word this hummer says.....he's just after your women folk!!

how you like dem avataaaaaars now baby!