Page 24 - Volume 15 Number 12

With power reduced to 1900 pounds torque, we lost about 10 knots of speed, cutting fuel flow to 400 PPH. Dunkin then demonstrated a quiet-cruise mode by backing away a bit of torque and slowing the propeller rpm to 1700, bringing torque back up to 2200 pounds, but in a much quieter environment for the passengers. Handling at cruise remained truck- like but benign, just as the Caravan has always been.We experimented with slowflight at 80 knots and full flaps, which turned out to be a thoroughly honest bit of flying, simply lighter on the control feel but still ponderous in response. We did not essay a full stall, but Dunkin assured us that nothing has changed over the simple Skyhawk manners we have come to expect in the 208. Because theFAA insisted on duplicating the certification criteria, a complete spin program has been flown, comprising some 115 spins.Going Down, FastBecause one of the major markets for the XP42A mod is for skydiving centers, we experimented with the skydive descent at flight idle, pushing over to reach the 180- knot redline. With the VSI pegged solid at 3000 fpm down, we timed an eardrum-splitting 4000 fpm descent, then quickly resumed a 500 fpm letdown. Combining the improved climb rate and rapid descent, skydive centers will be able to take four loads per hour to the top of the non-oxygen altitudes.Cleared to land back at Hartford’s Brainard airport, we slowed to 175 knots, where ten degrees flap waspermitted, which reduced speed to 150 knots so we could extend twenty degrees of flap. The final flap limit is 125 knots. A defunct set of runways a few miles east of the airport, the former Rentschler Field from World War II, tempted us, but, fortunately, Dunkin caught my mistake before it became serious.Cessna avoiding any equivalent- level-of-safety games when certifying its big single under FAR Part 23, preferring to meet the 61-knot Vso stall speed limitation with pure aerodynamic wizardry, at least at the standard airplane’s 8,500-pound landing weight.As with all Caravans, approach and landing chores are simple; no landing gear to extend, no switches to throw, just slow to as little 80 knots and drive to the runway. We indulged in a 90-knot “high-speed”22 • TWIN & TURBINEDECEMBER 2011