It was 1999 at the Aurora FBO in McGregor, Texas (KPWG), and Jim Allmon, who had previously worked at RAM Aircraft, approached two friends, Dale Griffin and Matt Shieman, regarding the idea to improve the performance of turboprop aircraft. Jim’s work at RAM proved the value of providing upgraded engines for piston aircraft and seeded the idea of replicating it with turboprops.
The three partners formed a company now known throughout aviation as a household name, Blackhawk. As pilots, they all knew operators were always looking at ways to improve the performance of their aircraft beyond the OEM design. Starting with a Cessna Conquest I owned by Dale, they proceeded to procure an existing STC to upgrade that twin to the Pratt and Whitney Canada (P&WC) PT6A-135A engines. The
project was a success, and within a few years, their progress was enough to
enter collaborative work with Pratt and Whitney Canada on additional aircraft upgrades.
Chris Dunkin – Chief Pilot & Sales Mgr.
With the knowledge they gained from the original Conquest upgrade, Blackhawk, now back in their hometown of Waco, Texas, embarked on a similar performance upgrade with the PT6A-135A engine on the Beechcraft C90 King Air, expanding to other 90 series King Airs. This venerable workhorse upgrade results in a 36% increase in horsepower, and possibly more importantly, better climb and a higher realistic cruising altitude and resulting speeds.
The Blackhawk King Air performance upgrades continued throughout the model line, offering various power upgrades through the King Air 350 models. With each STC, they have gained more experience in the design and implementation of their upgrades, and in many cases, offering multiple engine options tailored to their clients’ needs. Of course, operators may also opt for a propeller upgrade at the same time, and Blackhawk offers MT and Hartzell options.
Blackhawk Aerospace is now one operating unit of a new consolidated entity, Blackhawk Aerospace Technologies (BAT), created by New State Aviation Holdings. BAT also includes the well-known aviation entities – AVEX, Columbia Avionics and Aircraft Services, Finoff Aviation, and several other companies. AVEX, based in Camarillo, CA, has been a leader in Daher TBM sales and service. The inclusion of Columbia Avionics brought several STCs that had been developed for Citation Jets, and other capabilities.
Started by Chris Finnoff, Finnoff Aviation has been the premier provider of powerplant and propeller upgrades on the venerable Pilatus PC-12 for years. I’ve flown several PC-12 aircraft with the Finnoff P&W PT6A-67P upgrade, which provides a very cost-effective upgrade to this turboprop.
This combination of entities and expansion of services has resulted in a synergistic advantage, providing performance and avionics upgrades, as well as sales and service on a variety of aircraft.
With their expanding footprint, BAT has multiple locations. Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Waco, Texas, and spend time with members of the Blackhawk team. Since I had flown aircraft with their upgrades, I wanted to know the people behind the products and gain insight into the upgrade process.
Lining the Waco office walls are STCs that have been issued to Blackhawk and the companies that have been acquired throughout their corporate history. It is like walking through a hall of aviation fame, from the design perspective. Blackhawk continues to expand its offerings and is in the process of obtaining FAA approval for new performance upgrades.
I was planning to fly their King Air 350 XP67A Upgrade at Waco, and during my visit, the company was in the process of completing the approval process for one of their latest STC projects, upgrading the TBM 700. Something they accomplished just a few days later at the end of September.
Pedestal with 850 Mode Switch
Flying the King Air 350 XP67A
On the ramp in front of their Waco hangar was one of their most significant upgrades, a Beechcraft King Air 350. This King Air had undergone an extensive avionics upgrade to the Collins Pro Line Fusion offering. I have flown Fusion in a variety of aircraft, and it offers substantially more functionality than the Pro Line 21 that was previously in this aircraft and is standard in the latest King Air 350i.
Not only did this King Air have avionics, interior, and exterior upgrades, but it also sported the Blackhawk performance upgrades. This package mates composite 5-bladed MT propellers with two new Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67A engines. These engines produce a maximum of 1,200 shaft horsepower, flat-rated in this installation to 1,050 horsepower. Compare this with the standard installation of PT6-60A engines with a maximum output of 1,000 horsepower at 15,000 MSL. The Blackhawk upgrade offers the operator the ability to have 2,100 horsepower at their disposal, well up to FL250. This additional power results in a substantially higher rate of climb, higher cruise speeds, and the ability to climb above the weather under a wider variety of conditions. This was an aircraft I wanted to fly.
Chris Dunkin, who has been at Blackhawk for 20 years, would be flying with me on the demonstration flight. Chris has been involved in many Blackhawk programs over the years and has been the primary development test pilot for this project. As I walked up to the aircraft, the first differentiator I saw was the MT propellers. With the five blades versus the standard offering of four blades, there is slightly more ground clearance, an important factor for any turboprop, especially one that can access grass or gravel runways. This propeller also eliminates the ground idle limitations of the stock offering, which simplifies management.
The engine nacelles are slightly different, perhaps to accommodate the larger engine. The 67A has a 4-stage axial compressor, versus the standard 3-stage, which is the primary source of the increased performance. With this new engine, maximum ITT values increase. For takeoff, the maximum ITT is 850° C, which max continuous is only slightly less at 840° C. While most of us would not operate an engine right up to the maximum allowable ITT regularly, it is nice to know that the high limits can be used when you need to optimize your King Air’s performance.
Chris and I were planning a flight up to FL340 to see how this plane performs. The start-up procedure is virtually identical to the stock aircraft, with one exception. The larger engines take just a little more time to spool up due to their larger size, which makes sense.
With our flight plan loaded into the Fusion avionics, it was time to launch from Waco. The MT propellers offer a slight noise reduction in the cabin of 3-4 dB as well as less vibration. After departure, except for a short level off by ATC, we climbed up to our cruising altitude. As expected, there was a significant difference in the climb rate with the -67A engines. At 13,000 MSL, we were climbing at 2,600 FPM, 160 KIAS/200 KTAS. Climbing through FL210 at 2,700 FPM and 151 KIAS/220 KTAS, the Blackhawk King Air was just getting warmed up! Just before reaching FL340, we were still climbing at 1,300 FPM with 130KIAS/227KTAS.
We made it to our cruising altitude of FL340 in less than 18 minutes, even with the slight ATC delay. This is especially impressive in comparison when compared with 44 minutes with the original engines. Time is money, and now we were flying around Texas at 325 KTAS, which compares with 267KTAS without the upgrade. Our ITTs were at 814° C, 72% Torque, with a fuel burn of 330 PPH per side, all well within limits.
If you haven’t had an opportunity to fly the King Airs, take it whenever one comes your way. The King Air 350 is a large aircraft and is very enjoyable to fly. With 2,100 flat-rated horsepower out on the wings, it is a very stable platform, and at our cruise speeds, it had many characteristics of light jets – stable, with substantial power reserve. After exploring the handling characteristics and having fun, it was time to return to Waco in the Blackhawk King Air 350 and take a look at another Blackhawk project.
The latest upgrade
With so many performance STCs under its umbrella, Blackhawk has released another significant program, the TBM 700 XP66D upgrade. I had the opportunity to view this latest offering. With over 300 TBM 700 aircraft produced, this engine upgrade will be very popular. Blackhawk replaces the 700-horsepower PT6A-64 with a new PT6A-66D engine providing an increase of 150 horsepower. With this 21% increase in power, akin to the TBM 850, pilots will be able to climb to FL310 in 21 minutes, which reduces the time by 7 minutes. Once there, they will be able to fly up to 25 knots faster than the standard TBM 700.
In my experience flying the TBMs, this upgrade also adds additional safety margins with the increased horsepower. On those flights with OATs above ISA, it is always nice to have the additional power, and of course, the additional speed is always welcome! The Blackhawk XP66D upgrade operates in a similar, but different process from the TBM 850 to limit takeoff power to 700 horsepower until after takeoff. In the case of the TBM 850, there is an additional flap selector position above 0 flaps to access the higher horsepower. With the Blackhawk upgrade, the pilot engages an 850 switch – that is enabled only when the flap selector is in the up position. Using this interlock process obviates the need to alter the flap selector. Now, all the pilot needs to increase from 100% to 121% torque is to retract the flaps and press the button.
On their certification aircraft, Blackhawk also did an extensive upgrade of the TBM 700, including full modernization of the avionics with a complete Garmin suite. Coupled with a beautiful custom paint design and new interior, this upgrade package is perfect for those TBM 700 owners who love their aircraft and want to fully utilize the capabilities of their aircraft without purchasing a newer model, and save a substantial amount of money in the process.
Why Upgrade versus Overhaul
One of the decisions for operators is whether to simply wait to overhaul their existing engines or upgrade. The overhaul cost for a PT6A-60 or PT6A-64 engine is now approaching $800K each, and the additional cost of a propeller overhaul. If you choose this path, you save money; however, the performance is the same.
With the performance upgrade, owners exchange their timed-out engines for new powerplants. The new engines also include the P&WC Enhanced New-Engine Warranty for 2,500 hours/5 years with prorated coverage out to the TBO of 3,600 hours. This upgrade also includes an entitlement for the P&WC Line Maintenance Training, which is a perfect opportunity for an operator’s maintenance technicians to learn more about these engines.
What do you do with your existing engines if they still have time to be overhauled? The upgrade package includes incentives to update your plane before overhaul by providing financial credit for each hour on engines that have not attained TBO. It makes sense to upgrade early, receive more hour credits, and enjoy the performance upgrades sooner!
Blackhawk offers a variety of performance upgrades for other turboprop aircraft as well, more than we could cover in one article. I look to the future to write about additional turboprops flying one of the Blackhawk upgrades.
