All Hail the Pratt & Whitney PT6 Turboprop Engine!

All Hail the Pratt & Whitney PT6!

Below you will see one of the first photos of the infamous Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop aircraft engine and its designers. This engine is THE rockstar of the turboprop engine world! 

Important Dates:

• 1958 - Design started
• 1960 Feb. - First ran
• 1961 May - First flew
• 1964 - Entered service
• 2011 - 50th Anniversary 

On its first flight it was mounted as a third engine on the nose of a Beech 18. That would have been an interesting sight! The test aircraft was switched to a Beech King Air in 1980. The first production model was the PT6A-6 and used on the Beech Queen Air.

The original designers of the PT6

According to the manufacturer over 51,000 units have been produced (as of 2015) and the engine has flown over 400 million hours! Considering that it only has an in-flight engine shut-down once every 651,126 hours, it is one of the most reliable aircraft engines ever. There have been over 69 different versions built. Not all of the versions have been for aircraft, some variants have been used for helicopters, boats, hovercraft, land vehicles and auxiliary power units.

TBO (time between overhauls) ranges between 3600 to 9000 hours and hot section inspections are done between 1800 and 2000 hours.

The PT6-114A in the Cessna Caravan only weighs 350lbs and yet puts out almost 700hp! This engine is found in most of the turbo-prop airplanes in the United States, including the Cessna Caravan, de Havilland Twin Otter, Air Tractor, Beech 1900, Beech King Air, Beech 99, PAC 750, Quest Kodiak, Pilatus PC-12, Piaggio Avanti, Shorts 360, AgustaWestland AW139 and many more. ALL great aircraft mainly because of their heart.... the PT6. Keep up the great work Pratt & Whitney!

Be sure and check out our friends at pt6nation.com


CaravanNation.com

Chasing the Sun in the Caravan!

I took this photo of the sun going down while ferrying a Caravan from Illinois to Colorado.  I was flying over Iowa at 8,500 feet at the time.  Had to fight a headwind the entire 5 hour flight.

But the aircraft was successfully delivered! Another happy customer in the books! #pilotperks

CaravanNation.com

Don't miss the 39th Annual Sun 'n Fun International Fly In & Expo 2013

If you're anywhere near Florida April 9-14 , try and make it out to the 39th Annual Sun 'n Fun International Fly In and Expo in Lakeland Florida!  It's the second biggest "fly in" in the country. If I'm not flying skydivers that weekend I will be there!

Fueling up the Twin Otter aka "Shark One"

A funny picture of Heather teasing me while I was refueling the Twin Otter aka "Shark One" in between flying loads of skydivers at Skydive Taft in Southern California.  The DHC-6 Twin Otter is the most common twin turbine jump airplane in North America. It holds up to 23 skydivers. They love it for its large exit door and high wings that make "spotting" easier. This aircraft was leased by us from Skydive Perris.

Ferrying a Caravan from Georgia to Illinois

I flew this C208 Caravan on a ferry flight from warm Atlanta Georgia to the snowy Chicago Illinois area. It will be undergoing modifications so that it can start its new life as a jump aircraft.

Louisiana Rainbow

I caught a picture of a nice rainbow over Louisiana after throwing out some skydivers in the Grand Caravan.  Constant beautiful views, yet another perk to my job!

The New Grand Caravan EX!

The new Grand Caravan EX has received FAA type certification. Its new Pratt & Whitney PT6A-140 has improved its rate of climb performance by 38%! That's almost twice as much as its projected 20% increase!

DC-3 sunset fly by!

A cool photo of a DC3 sunset fly by at Skydive Arizona.  The largest drop zone in the world and the only one that I'm aware of that flies the classic DC3.  You can also see their wind tunnel in the background. Taken at Eloy, Arizona USA

Clouds parting over the Grand Van

The strangest thing happened.  I rubbed her belly and the clouds parted!  I had been waiting for the clouds to clear up and decided to give "the girl" a little wash.  I happened to look up and see the pretty sun rays shining through the clouds and decided to take this nice pic!  Taken at Eagle Lake Airport, Eagle Lake Texas USA

Croft And Barrow 2-Pk. Airplane Woven Boxers (Google Affiliate Ad)

My corner office with a view!

My corner office with a view.  The new one after the last one... but not the last one :)  This almost 700 horse power C208B Grand Caravan will take up to 17 skydivers up to our normal drop altitude of 13,000 feet in about 12 minutes!  The Caravan is the most common turbine powered aircraft used to haul skydivers in the U.S. and it is the second most common jump plane in the U.S. overall, after the C182 Skylane.  Read more about ALL of the jump planes that are flown around the world in on our "Skydive Aircraft" page!

What would DB Cooper do?

I found this funny sign on the wall of a drop zone that I visited.  What would DB Cooper do?  Well... he would jump out of the plane of course!  The most infamous skydiver ever on November 24th 1971 hijacked a Northwest Orient Boeing 727-100 (tail number N467US), extorted $200,000 and jumped out of the back of it never to be seen or heard from again.  Did you know that he actually gave the alias "Dan Cooper" not "DB Cooper"?  Somewhere during the initial media reports it was mis-reported as DB instead of Dan and it stuck.... and now you know ;)

Jump Pilot George Quick and Skydiver Bert White - May 1930

If you love history, aviation or skydiving you will appreciate this picture. This is a classic picture of Jump Pilot George Quick (left) and Skydiver Bert White before their altitude record breaking skydive of 24,800ft.

The record was made over the Mojave Desert (CA) May 25, 1930.

Keeping an eye on the kids!

Here's a photo of me at "work" at Skydive Houston awhile ago.  I have a small mirror that I use to keep an eye on those crazy guys behind me...lol  If you look carefully you will count 11 skydivers back there, a larger load for a "Mini Van" (smaller Caravan) during the Summer time.

Caravan Captain!

I made Captain of the beloved C208 Caravan, the most popular single engine turbo prop jump plane in the world!  To give you an idea of how large those blades are... I'm 6'3".  Thank you Richard and Eddie!

You're gonna have to drop out if you wanna graduate!

I had to share this funny Skydiving School cartoon that I found.

Mark dumpin' jumpers at the World Recod Skills Camp 2012

A nice pic of Mark dumpin' jumpers in his Skyvan at the World Record Skills Camp 2012 last week.

copyright kazu oyama

Mark in the Skyvan at the World Record Skills Camp 2012

Here's a cool pic of Mark "hard at work" flying his Skyvan at the World Record Skills Camp 2012 last week.

copyright kazu oyama

Red Bull Stratos - Felix Baumgartner's Test Jump

Felix Baumgartner successfully jumped from 71,000 feet last week in preparation for a record breaking skydive from 120,000 which will take place this summer!

Opening Sequence from "One Six Right"

Waiting for my next load of skydivers ...

Here I am deep in thought (lol) waiting for my next load of skydivers at Skydive Taft.  By the way, this is one of the only Cessna 182s that I've ever seen that has speed brakes.  I love 'em!  They helped me to get down from 13,000 feet a lot quicker, almost 3,000 feet per minute!  This airplane started its jump plane life with Larry Hill of Skydive Arizona in Eloy AZ.  I believe that it has since been sold to a drop zone in Northern California.