I drove by you a few weeks ago but couldn't stop by I believe you had it sitting out either way looks like a killer ride! maybe next time I can stop by and have a chat. congrats on the STC

Congratulations! It's been a long haul according to the story as I looked back!

That puppy is begging for some floats. What's the fuel flow at low power settings And low altitude?

25 gph seems to be the low cruise. It stands up and goes at 30 gph.

Nice contrails yesterday. https://goo.gl/photos/n6CxvdXhxEEjnpQo8 [googlevideo]https://goo.gl/photos/n6CxvdXhxEEjnpQo8[/googlevideo]

Well done, an incredible effort, good choice of engine and a great result!

I've been maintaining and flying a Silver Eagle P210 recently, incredible performance and lovely to fly, but man I hate working on that engine! Give me a PT6 any day..

Hey I think I got the preview on that! It was good meeting you at KFES and seeing the machine. I'll have to drop in on your strip sometime.

Sold the prototype PT6 206 and used the money to buy a Factory Float 81 U206G wet wing with Sportsman and Flints. I just bought a used set of Wip 3450As. Have a couple of planes to complete before getting on this project but it should be fun. I have been talking to Hartzel about pitch locks and plan to set that up with the 93 in prop and exhaust. Working on getting Diesel as the approved fuel with the -11AG engine on a part 23 aircraft. The F and G bladder 76 gal wings really only gave you 2 hours range w 45 min reserve. Fine for Skydiving and a coffee filled bladder but makes planning harder for X country. The Wet wing is heavier but the 12 additional gals is 25 min, and the Flints give another hour. This will give the plane the range it should have. So much to do but Ill keep pushing. Into the paint booth.

Skydive206 wrote:Sold the prototype PT6 206 and used the money to buy a Factory Float 81 U206G wet wing with Sportsman and Flints. I just bought a used set of Wip 3450As. Have a couple of planes to complete before getting on this project but it should be fun. I have been talking to Hartzel about pitch locks and plan to set that up with the 93 in prop and exhaust. Working on getting Diesel as the approved fuel with the -11AG engine on a part 23 aircraft. The F and G bladder 76 gal wings really only gave you 2 hours range w 45 min reserve. Fine for Skydiving and a coffee filled bladder but makes planning harder for X country. The Wet wing is heavier but the 12 additional gals is 25 min, and the Flints give another hour. This will give the plane the range it should have. So much to do but Ill keep pushing. Into the paint booth.

Pictures?

Skydive206 wrote:Sold the prototype PT6 206 and used the money to buy a Factory Float 81 U206G wet wing with Sportsman and Flints. I just bought a used set of Wip 3450As. Have a couple of planes to complete before getting on this project but it should be fun. I have been talking to Hartzel about pitch locks and plan to set that up with the 93 in prop and exhaust. Working on getting Diesel as the approved fuel with the -11AG engine on a part 23 aircraft. The F and G bladder 76 gal wings really only gave you 2 hours range w 45 min reserve. Fine for Skydiving and a coffee filled bladder but makes planning harder for X country. The Wet wing is heavier but the 12 additional gals is 25 min, and the Flints give another hour. This will give the plane the range it should have. So much to do but Ill keep pushing. Into the paint booth.

Did Soloy ever get around the lightning strike requirements with the Flint tanks? I recall at one point, they couldn't use the Flints with a turbine engine, due to the turbine requirement for lightning protection, which the Flints, being fiberglass, couldn't meet.

I agree that's by far the simplest route to more fuel with a turbine. We tanked one 206F with Sierra Tanks, outboard of the standard tanks. Worked fine, but could take forever to fill all the tanks.....

MTV

How does your reversing linkage work currently? Soloy has never been able to get pitchlocks to work on their setup, different engine I know but hard to envision how you would get the control lock to work.

Pitchlocks are essential to getting full enjoyment out of your turbine powered floatplane

Yes they did. I talked to Flint about it but I dont see it advertised at their site.

Yes, Beta and Reverse just like the Twin Otter. Only difference is Primary blade angle is a little flatter.

Skydive206 wrote:Yes, Beta and Reverse just like the Twin Otter. Only difference is Primary blade angle is a little flatter.

Yes, but how does it actually work for the pilot? Do you still have a push-pull Cessna throttle or something else? Does it come back to idle at a certain detent and then you pull harder to go into reverse?

I spent 10 years maintaining a fleet of Vazar Turbo-otters, specifically engine inspection and rigging. Getting the reverse set up correctly for the way we operated involved a lot of “tribal knowledge”. Our operation is unique in that it involves 20 or more unassisted dockings a day all summer long, getting the reverse responsive without a lot of NG spike is tricky.

Nothing better than being able to back onto the beach!




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Halestorm wrote:Our operation is unique in that it involves 20 or more unassisted dockings a day all summer long, getting the reverse responsive without a lot of NG spike is tricky.

I’m still learning all the black magic behind a cycle count, but did this sort of ops seriously dig into the cycles? Or is there a different formula y’all were able to use?

CenterHillAg wrote:

Halestorm wrote:Our operation is unique in that it involves 20 or more unassisted dockings a day all summer long, getting the reverse responsive without a lot of NG spike is tricky.

I’m still learning all the black magic behind a cycle count, but did this sort of ops seriously dig into the cycles? Or is there a different formula y’all were able to use?

A cycle is an engine start coupled with a takeoff and a subsequent shutdown.

Average cycle count across our fleet (12 airplanes) is 2.7 per hour, this is a very high average. Our TBO has been gradually increased over the last 30 years through a factory approved extension program up to 7500 hours. It happens to work out that some of the most expensive cycle limited components (CT disc, CT vane, etc.) cycle out at the same time as the TBO comes due.

So rather than overhaul these engines with having to source new overpriced rotating components we just buy a brand new PT6-34A every 8-9 years for each airplane and sell the cores on the open market. With OEM pricing this actually works out pretty good and is a big boon for safety. There’s nothing quite like that new PT6 smell!

Works as it should. Its a push pull system. The Power lever comes back to an Idle stop. Raise the lever to enter Beta and Reverse. Same for Prop from Max to min and then feather. Condition lever, Fwd High idle, back to the stop is Low idle, over the gate and back is cut off. The push pull makes it hard for fine tuning TIT. Wouldn't notice if it was a 2 inch round dial TIT 1/8 inch wide needle. A lever system would allow for finer tuning. My company temp is 650C so an overshoot of 10C isnt causing any damage. The -20 rigging is more complex and you have to spent a lot of time remembering how it all works. Teaching it to someone thats hourly would suck. A skydiving stripped 206 with sportsman comes in slow and the prop must be set up pretty flat at the Idle stop to get it to slow down when empty. Beta and Reverse are very handy.

Nothing sexy to post now. The plane in back is under conversion for skydiving, the one in front will go on the amphibs with the PT6 conversion. https://photos.app.goo.gl/jF5b4cab3fVpURdF9

Here are few photos of my Jump birds and the Amphib conversion. https://photos.app.goo.gl/xZJE8uwQA7Rqs3LCA