Turboprop comparison

[Xcaliber]

I've always heard the Beech TPs especially the 1900 are very stable hand flying machines. What about the Bro and the SAAB? How do they compare?

The only TP's I've flown are a Caravan and the Bro.

Caravan = big 172. Easy to fly, easy to land, and about as complicated as any light trainer out there. It's an unglamorous workhorse. It can take almost it's own weight in payload, but is slooooooooooow.

Bro = Who designed this plane? Seriously? Whoever it was needs to be dragged into the street and flogged medieval style. It's fast enough for a TP, can carry a decent amount of weight, climbs ok, and generally works well (not great, but well). But seriously, who designs a propeller system whos default is catastrophic overspeed? Has Embraer never heard of counter-weights?

 

[Boris Badenov]

I have to disagree with you on the pc-12 though.(never flown one, don't care, it's minus a spinney thing required for flight.) If my company gave me a pc-12(or a 208) to fly instead of the 99 tomorrow morning, I'd just walk out right there.

*shrug*. The only engine failure I've had in ~4000 hours of flying TPs was on a 99 because it ran out of oil (opinions differ on how this happened...I'll leave that at that). I flew 210s for hours in the solid four digits in the worst kind of weather, thunderstorms and hard IFR on the ground all the way, and I never thought anything about it. I suppose it's all relative, but while I'd love to have another fan out there, I prefer one extremely well-maintained PT-6 with a Maintainer (God bless his soul) who is expert and hard-working to two of them with contract MX who might occassionally leave out some Optional Parts.

(I should add that for those who know who I was flying the 99 for, it was definitely NOT their fault. They're Good People. IMHO, it was probably someone who doesn't work on turbines all that often leaving a seal or spacer or something off. But that's speculative.)

 

[JayAre]

Flown the 99, metro, and 1900. I would say the 1900 hands down.

 

[z987k]

*shrug*. The only engine failure I've had in ~4000 hours of flying TPs was on a 99 because it ran out of oil (opinions differ on how this happened...I'll leave that at that). I flew 210s for hours in the solid four digits in the worst kind of weather, thunderstorms and hard IFR on the ground all the way, and I never thought anything about it. I suppose it's all relative, but while I'd love to have another fan out there, I prefer one extremely well-maintained PT-6 with a Maintainer (God bless his soul) who is expert and hard-working to two of them with contract MX who might occassionally leave out some Optional Parts.

(I should add that for those who know who I was flying the 99 for, it was definitely NOT their fault. They're Good People. IMHO, it was probably someone who doesn't work on turbines all that often leaving a seal or spacer or something off. But that's speculative.)

I really should qualify the statement more, I have no problem flying a 206 or something similar around in the •. But if you took away one of my fans, it'd remove 90-100% of the reason I work here. Then the other side of it.. and this does not apply to me at the moment. I don't think single engine IFR should be allowed under 135 or 121 pax, but that's a personal opinion. I don't think it is allowed under 121 is it?

 

[Dan208B]

Flown the 99, metro, and 1900. I would say the 1900 hands down.

That makes 2 of us and I'm surprised to hear your answer. While I liked the 1900, I never liked that it had to have all those fences to be certified. And damn ugly as all get-out too. I much preferred the metro. I felt much more accomplished flying that airplane around.

 

[Boris Badenov]

I really should qualify the statement more, I have no problem flying a 206 or something similar around in the . But if you took away one of my fans, it'd remove 90-100% of the reason I work here. Then the other side of it.. and this does not apply to me at the moment. I don't think single engine IFR should be allowed under 135 or 121 pax, but that's a personal opinion. I don't think it is allowed under 121 is it?

IMS, it is not allowed, no. For my part, as I said, in a perfect world I'd much prefer to have another fan. But the maintainer who works on our airplane is top notch, and I think it's a lot more likely that my dumb ass flies it into a mountain or something than the engine failing. I mean, naturally, I'm Infallible, but statistically speaking, it's a Trusim.

 

[z987k]

IMS, it is not allowed, no. For my part, as I said, in a perfect world I'd much prefer to have another fan. But the maintainer who works on our airplane is top notch, and I think it's a lot more likely that my dumb ass flies it into a mountain or something than the engine failing. I mean, naturally, I'm Infallible, but statistically speaking, it's a Trusim.

Ya, you have to watch out for those mountains around stl. They just jump out and get you.

 

[Autothrust Blue]

I really should qualify the statement more, I have no problem flying a 206 or something similar around in the . But if you took away one of my fans, it'd remove 90-100% of the reason I work here. Then the other side of it.. and this does not apply to me at the moment. I don't think single engine IFR should be allowed under 135 or 121 pax, but that's a personal opinion. I don't think it is allowed under 121 is it?

Single engine airplanes are prohibited under 121. Period.

 

[Boris Badenov]

Ya, you have to watch out for those mountains around stl. They just jump out and get you.

Well, that's the thing, they're stealthy. You don't see them till it's Too Late!

Actually, though, ever been to Harrison, AR? I mean it ain't the Rockies, but there's still stuff out there to hit if you try hard enough.

 

[Jpax]

The plane I fly has RJ pilots in the jumpseat go, "wowwowweewah, you guys sure have a lot of work to do! How did you memorize all those flows?!"

 

[z987k]

Well, that's the thing, they're stealthy. You don't see them till it's Too Late!

Actually, though, ever been to Harrison, AR? I mean it ain't the Rockies, but there's still stuff out there to hit if you try hard enough.

Well, that's the thing, they're stealthy. You don't see them till it's Too Late!

Actually, though, ever been to Harrison, AR? I mean it ain't the Rockies, but there's still stuff out there to hit if you try hard enough.

There's some 2000' antennas if you go hunting for them. I don't know if I've ever been to Harrison, but I've been through AR, and ya, they have... hills.

 

[Douglas]

I loved my 99 (my only TP). I especially liked getting more altitude in thousands of feet than miles across the ground on takeoff.

 

[Boris Badenov]

There's some 2000' antennas if you go hunting for them. I don't know if I've ever been to Harrison, but I've been through AR, and ya, they have... hills.

Flew them 210s in to KASG (as opposed to KASE) for way too long. There's a great big ridge on the left side of the approach to the south runway with some kind of aerial on it that we used to call an "airplane catcher". If you monkey with the ILS in VFR and go full scale deflection to the left, it's stunning how close you are to that damned thing.

 

[ackeight]

Order of tp's I've flown

1: PC-12/45- All it needed was assisted roll control which later pc-12s got but I didn't fly. Everything else is what all tp's should strive to be. I can't wait to see if they make a twin.

2: tbm700- sporty TP but lacks in size for a 5hr trip. Tbm 850 with a 320kt cruise is pretty sweet.

3: caravan- that's all I need to say.

 

[Boskru]

My favorite has to be a decent Kingair 200. They're smooth, comfortable and fun to fly. I start flying the Dash8-300 next week and I'm looking forward to trying it out!

 

[X-Forces]

I fly JETTTZZZZZZ bitches!!!



Wish I had a chance to fly a good TP, but it look like TS might be the closest I come.

 

[Speed Pilot]

Turbo Commander 690B. Amazing plane. Loud. Easy to hand fly. Big port hole for the pax to stare out. Loud. Taxiing will put hair on your chest.

 

[ctab5060X]

The Saab is a great plane, very easy to fly too. Solid airplane

The Saab is a great bird. Super easy to either hand fly or sit back and manage the autopilot.

I love the feel of the airplane. Solid, yet responsive.

 

[N519AT]

My favorite has to be a decent Kingair 200. They're smooth, comfortable and fun to fly. I start flying the Dash8-300 next week and I'm looking forward to trying it out!

I like the KA200 (I have about 250 hrs in one) but I much prefer the KA350. The KA200 I have time in is fairly new, and fairly heavy. We can take pax or fuel, not both. With a packed cabin (7+2 pilots) we can go about an hour, and that's it. The KA350 is load everything up, full tanks, load some more on, fill the seats, load even more on and you're still legal.

Oh, and if someone tells you it's okay to fly a KA200 over gross because "the Navy/Army/whoever has 200's and they fly them at 14,500 MTOW", don't believe them. They're feeding you a load of BS. The Navy's King Air 200's (C-12's) are very different structurally than civvie 200's.

One thing that can definitely be tricky is landing the 200. With props full forward and flight idle, you're dropping like a rock. My best landings have been power on in the 200, but it's a fine line between too much power and not enough. Plus we have the dinky tires so the wheels can fit in the wells without sticking out, so they don't absorb very much if you land a bit....hard.

I have about 600 hours now in the Dash and I'm loving it. It's a great, capable airplane that can be fun to fly, but also handles like a big truck. It's a nice, solid airplane. I enjoy the 300 moreso than the 200 in that I can land the 300 better with greater consistency along with the fact that it has a better "big airplane" feel too it. It flies like it looks, heavy and lumbering. The only thing I don't like about the 300 is that it's a bit of a pig (climbing single engine? it can barely climb off the runway with two!) and the potential for tail strike is pretty big so you have to be fairly cautious on takeoff and landing.

 

[dustoff17]

Have only flown the King Air series, the Shorts, and the Caravan. The Caravan is hands-down the best! You won't get anywhere fast but you'll enjoy the view, you can load whatever you want, and you can land ANYWHERE..