I really munsoned myself...

BrewMaster

Well-Known Member
I get a phone call on the line yesterday to go fuel the local regional t-prop. After kind of rushing around and hearing them come in I rush out to the truck and speed over there. Get the bonding cable hooked up. Get the step ladder out. Chock the truck. Start to record the meters......what the? They are like 30,000 gallons off! What the hell did Steve do to this thing?

The truck is painted blue.....DAMMIT!

So I throw everything back into the truck and haul my tail over to the FBO where I'm fully waiting for the 4 other guys I was just talking to to be laughing hysterically. Nothing. I get the other truck and go back( all this for a whopping 30 on the right, not worth the embarrasement) After avoiding the pilots who could have seen that, I get back and go inside. Nothing. How could this be? I just couldn't keep it to myself so I had to tell. After some very hard laughs, ON ME, we got into a discussion on whether a turbine engine can accept AvGas. I think it can, but could anybody explain to me what it would do, or how bad it would be if it had to burn through a little bit?
 
*digs up ancient knowledge from A&P classes*
Most turbine engines will run on avgas. Most are limited to x number of hours running on it. I believe that one of the problems is that lead by-products will build up on the turbine rotors and stators.
 
I think the PT6 is limited to something like 6 hours running on avgas. It can be done but it doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy.
 
I think the PT6 is limited to something like 6 hours running on avgas. It can be done but it doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy.


I know for the Twin Otter you can run it up to 25% of its life on Avgas. I don't know if that is typical of all PT6'es.
 
I think the PT6 is limited to something like 6 hours running on avgas. It can be done but it doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy.

In the Hondo IIRC, you could run them for 8hrs and up to 15,000', plus the stndby boost pump had to be on to prevent cavitation. That's all I remember.

I would have rather taken clean avgas the day we had to pump JetA out of a rusty watery barrel in PASN. The filter in the pump clogged about every 2 minutes, it took over an hour to empty the two 55gal drums. I swear the airplane made funny noisy coming back to bethel from out over the water.
 
I think the PT6 is limited to something like 6 hours running on avgas. It can be done but it doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy.
Depends on the model of PT6. The -60A on the King Air 350 can run up to 150 hours on avgas between engine overhauls. Both standby pumps must be operational, however, due to the cavitation problem that was previously mentioned.
 
Turbines are pretty versatile little things. PT6's can burn AVGAS, like others said. The -27 is limited to 150 hours in any overhaul cycle.
 
The instructor that did my initial training for the Piper Meridian (PT6A-42A) mentioned something interesting when I asked about 100LL in a TP powerplant. The PT6 is approved for use with both Jet A and Jet A-1, one difference between the two being the operating temperatures. Jet A can be used to temperatures down to -34C and Jet A-1 can be used to -41C. Apparently, Jet A-1 is manufactured by mixing 3 parts Jet A with 1 part 100LL (good to -51C), resulting in the extra temperature range. He stressed that "you never heard this from me, and don't ever try it, but theoretically if you can run to TBO on Jet A-1, you can do the same on 100LL". He claimed that this is why you can't get a clear answer, even from P&W, about how much 100LL you can run through a PT6, but from a liability standpoint, the official line is "there's a limit". All that being said, I firmly agree with esa17: it definitely doesn't give me a warm & fuzzy feeling.
 
i read some time ago that the engines on some older airliners and military planes had provisions for how much gasoline could be used, and for how long, due to the limited amounts of jet in areas of the world. in these cases, the take-off data would also reflect the lower thrust of the engines (less BTU's with gasoline).

it was concerning twa 800, and the person was speculating that gasoline vapors would have facilitated the center tank explosion.

but really, wouldn't a turbine run on just about anything? diesel, heating oil, gasoline, kerosene, cooking oil? maybe not well, but....
 
The instructor that did my initial training for the Piper Meridian (PT6A-42A) mentioned something interesting when I asked about 100LL in a TP powerplant. The PT6 is approved for use with both Jet A and Jet A-1, one difference between the two being the operating temperatures. Jet A can be used to temperatures down to -34C and Jet A-1 can be used to -41C. Apparently, Jet A-1 is manufactured by mixing 3 parts Jet A with 1 part 100LL (good to -51C), resulting in the extra temperature range. He stressed that "you never heard this from me, and don't ever try it, but theoretically if you can run to TBO on Jet A-1, you can do the same on 100LL". He claimed that this is why you can't get a clear answer, even from P&W, about how much 100LL you can run through a PT6, but from a liability standpoint, the official line is "there's a limit". All that being said, I firmly agree with esa17: it definitely doesn't give me a warm & fuzzy feeling.

I've personally used Jet A in a PT6 down to -65F at altitude with no problems, and let one off at -45F a few times. Nothing abnormal about the start or the flight either.
 
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