King Air 90 or Lear 24

[banned username 2]

Are you considering the Blackhawk engine swap, too?

I was parked next to one of those in KPNE a few months ago, holy noisy!!!

 

[mzaharis]

I was parked next to one of those in KPNE a few months ago, holy noisy!!!

Interesting - given that they're both flavors of PT-6, you'd think it wouldn't make much of a difference.

 

[prpjt]

The C90 Falcon was parked next to probably had the Kilo Alpha 290 conversion, which is a TPE331 -10 conversion.

The Blackhawk conversion is PT6 - 135's

With the KA290 engines they claim 285 ktas @ 280. Its a 1000hp conversion. Initial climb rate of 3000fpm

The Black Hawk is a 750hp conversion that should get you 280 ktas @200.

 

[banned username 2]

The C90 Falcon was parked next to probably had the Kilo Alpha 290 conversion, which is a TPE331 -10 conversion.

Oh, you know what? I think you are right... It was a Garrett conversion and came with all the associated noise! Kilo Alpha does sound familiar...

 

[seethru]

I've looked at the Blackhawk conversion before on their website. One concern I have is how does this increase in airpseed affect the structural integrity of the aircraft? It is a sizable leap in performance, not simply a 5-10 knot increase.

Does anybody else have that concern, or maybe it's not really a problem.

Thanks,

Greg

 

[mzaharis]

I've looked at the Blackhawk conversion before on their website. One concern I have is how does this increase in airpseed affect the structural integrity of the aircraft? It is a sizable leap in performance, not simply a 5-10 knot increase.

Does anybody else have that concern, or maybe it's not really a problem.

Thanks,

Greg

I could be wrong (this is purely from what I've read, not any personal experience), but since they flat-rate the engines at 550hp (same as stock), I don't believe that the airframe sees much increase in the max indicated airspeed. It's just that, because it can hold 550hp to a higher altitude, you can carry a higher true airspeed up high.

That's about how I read the following chart. The maximum CAS for a stock C90A is 213, while the maximum for a Blackhawk C90A is 220 (slightly hot conditions - 84F).

http://www.blackhawk.aero/xpkingairmaxcruisecomp.htm

Probably the best indication would be to see whether Raytheon starts "beefing up" their aircraft structurally - the new King Air C90GT is basically the same as a "Blackhawked" C90B - substituting the -135 for the -21s. If the empty weight doesn't go up, then it appears that even Raytheon doesn't think that it needs any beefing up.

 

[BE200Driver]

The KA 300 is single pilot.