Page 20 - Volume 15 Number 12

logged in Blackhawk’s recertification showed no CO contamination in the cockpit or cabin, owing to the precise “clocking” of the Frakes stacks installed on the PT6A-42A engine.The test aircraft was fitted with a full APE (Aircraft Payload Extender) kit, which allows a gross weight increase to 9062 pounds (max landing weight is 9000 pounds). The standard 208B ramp weight is 8785 pounds. To take advantage of the weight increase, the XP42A approval requires installation of the APE kit’s minor changes, if the retrofitted aircraft is not already equipped with it. The APE kit includes larger mainwheel axles, an airflow fence on each wing’s outboard leading edge and a wavy aerodynamic device added to the inboard portion of each flap’s trailing edge.A 100-inch four-blade Hartzell propeller is part of the installation, replacing the 104-inch standard propeller. Standard TBO for the new engine is 3,600 hours. Credit18 • TWIN & TURBINEDECEMBER 2011