Aviation Maintenance Magazine

Banyan Partners with Texas Turbine Conversion for Engine Upgrade

13 Dec 2011

The Banyan maintenance team recently partnered with Texas Turbine Conversions from Celina, Texas to perform an engine upgrade utilizing an STC for the Cessna Caravan developed by Texas Turbine Conversions. The existing Pratt and Whitney PT-6A engine was removed and a factory-fresh Honeywell TPE-331-12JR was installed. This complex engine upgrade included replacement of not only the engine, propeller, and all associated wiring and batteries, but also included a complete redesign of the cowlings and exhaust system. This engine conversion provides the operator with increased horsepower going from 675 shaft-horsepower with the original engine to a whopping 900 shaft-horsepower. Additional benefits include reduced fuel burn and longer maintenance intervals, resulting in lower overall operating costs. Markus Bastuck with Fallschirmsportzentrum Saar (F.S.S.S.) in Germany has years of experience with Honeywell engines on Merlins. “From my experience, the Honeywell TPE331 engine is extremely reliable, very cost effective for skydiving operations, and gives the Caravan great abilities as a jump plane,” states Bastuck. “Our jumpers reach altitude in less than fifteen minutes and as an operator, we benefit from the 7,000 hour TBO. Additionally, with the stringent German requirements on noise, we discovered the noise level was significantly less than the standard Caravan during flight. The quick takeoff and fast climb enables us to be below the 78 dB(A) requirement,” says Bastuck. Markus stated that they chose the Supervan 900 after completing an extensive amount of research on all the Caravan conversion possibilities. F.S.S.S. has now purchased their second Supervan 900 to operate in Saarlouis Germany.