Cessna Grand Caravan 208B - 1988
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Wednesday, March 9, 2016
For Sale: 1988 Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Caravan Initial Turbine Rating Conversion at Sheltam Aviation Port Elizabeth South Africa
Below you will find a story of a pilot getting his Initial Turbine Rating Conversion in a Caravan at Sheltam Aviation in Port Elizabeth South Africa. They also operate out of Virginia Airport in Durban. For more information about the program at Sheltam Aviation click here.
So there I was, sandwiched on a Greyhound to Port Elizabeth, uncomfortably mashed in the non-flying bus, a dream come true, I was on my way to light my first turbine, my first PT-6. More specifically a PT6A-114A, producing 675shp. Any guess's what that may be? Oh yes.... Caravan.... Cessna's Swiss Army Knife with wing's, and man oh man, was I excited!!!
I don't know why, but I always had an infatuation with turbine's from day one. I couldn't explain it, every time a Pilatus PC-12 started up or spooled down on the apron, where I learned to fly, I would stand there and drool offensively onto the tarmac. I loved the wine and seemingly endless acceleration they had on takeoff, so much more refined and smooth then their piston cousin's. It's funny, a lot of the time when you fly an airplane that you have dreamt of for a while, it let's you down. It's not as cool as you expected it to be, but this time it exceeded my expectations. What a plane!
After the passengers are loaded for the heavy load section of the conversion, a mixture of instructors and student's captured among Port Elizabeth's apron. Rear door closed and latched and load bar removed from under the tail, a final walk around checking hatches and doors closed and prop area clear. A climb up the mini air-stair into the cockpit find's me in a hugely spacious cockpit. Comfy seats and 5 point harness', controls and instruments where they should be.
Familiar and well positioned, fuel tank selectors both to ON, bleed air switch off, beacon light to position ON, fuel and firewall emergency in the normal position, trim neutral position and elevator trim for takeoff. Control lock's removed, fuel condition lever in idle cutoff position, propeller pitch lever fully fine, power lever idle position, inertial bypass separator normal position. Call for start-up, cleared for start-up from ground control, gauge and instrument check as well as ensuring beacon light is on. All engine control switches in the correct position for a battery start, ensuring ignition switch in the normal position, electronic master switch goes on, electronic gyro's start to spin and a quick check on the voltmeter ensuring that we have 24.5 volts minimum for a battery start confirmed. We are clear left and right, a loud clear prop to anyone around the aircraft, fuel pump to ON, start switch goes on and immediately the loud electric-like whine and woosh of the compressor of the PT6 comes to life.
A quick check of oil and fuel pressure ensuring ops are normal as you do not want fuel going into the combustion chamber prior to light up. The fuel flow gauge confirm's ZERO, the loud metallic TICK-TICK-TICK of the igniters awaiting the arrival of fuel into the combustion chamber. Back quickly to the Ng gauge or compressor speed gauge, expressed as a %, minimum to introduce fuel into the combustion chamber is 12%. The Ng rises swiftly past 12% and because the higher the compressor RPM, the more smooth the start will be, I let it rise up to 18%. It stabilizes and I smoothly introduce fuel by moving the fuel condition lever from idle cut-off to low idle. A fuel flow indication of around 100pph indicates correctly, the dull woomff of fuel igniting and the immediate smell of burnt jet fuel indicates first stage light-up.
All of your attention turns now to the ITT gauge. The engine spooling up quickly now and a secondary dull woomf and woosh signals second stage light-up and the ITT soars rapidly towards the maximum limits. With one hand on the fuel lever and one hand on the start switch ready for a possible hot-start, you hope and pray that the volatile cocktail of jet-fuel and air stabilizes before it reaches maximum temperature limits, which is 1090C. For 2 seconds on start-up, all of a sudden, the swiftly rising ITT needle stops its ascent and decreases back to a stable 650C. All engine perimeters checked, all stable and you are ready to rock.
Start-switch to off, standby power to armed position, ensure generator is charging the battery, fuel switch to norm and avionics master 1 and 2 both on and you are ready to taxi-out. Get the air conditioning on for your passengers and test the electronic master warning system prior to taxi. All this happening in less than a minute. I cant tell you the smile on my face after that little sequence. Call me easily pleased!
Once started, a turbine is very simple to operate and the caravan is one of the nicest flying aircraft around. A pleasure in all conditions, with its beautifully harmonized controls. It really is a pilots dream machine, incredibly capable. With reverse thrust, huge flaps, de-icing, weather radar and a full auto-pilot it is capable of operating anywhere in almost any weather. I loved my conversion and I can not wait for the opportunity to fly the aircraft operationally in the very near future!
- CaravanPilot.com
So there I was, sandwiched on a Greyhound to Port Elizabeth, uncomfortably mashed in the non-flying bus, a dream come true, I was on my way to light my first turbine, my first PT-6. More specifically a PT6A-114A, producing 675shp. Any guess's what that may be? Oh yes.... Caravan.... Cessna's Swiss Army Knife with wing's, and man oh man, was I excited!!!
I don't know why, but I always had an infatuation with turbine's from day one. I couldn't explain it, every time a Pilatus PC-12 started up or spooled down on the apron, where I learned to fly, I would stand there and drool offensively onto the tarmac. I loved the wine and seemingly endless acceleration they had on takeoff, so much more refined and smooth then their piston cousin's. It's funny, a lot of the time when you fly an airplane that you have dreamt of for a while, it let's you down. It's not as cool as you expected it to be, but this time it exceeded my expectations. What a plane!
After the passengers are loaded for the heavy load section of the conversion, a mixture of instructors and student's captured among Port Elizabeth's apron. Rear door closed and latched and load bar removed from under the tail, a final walk around checking hatches and doors closed and prop area clear. A climb up the mini air-stair into the cockpit find's me in a hugely spacious cockpit. Comfy seats and 5 point harness', controls and instruments where they should be.
Familiar and well positioned, fuel tank selectors both to ON, bleed air switch off, beacon light to position ON, fuel and firewall emergency in the normal position, trim neutral position and elevator trim for takeoff. Control lock's removed, fuel condition lever in idle cutoff position, propeller pitch lever fully fine, power lever idle position, inertial bypass separator normal position. Call for start-up, cleared for start-up from ground control, gauge and instrument check as well as ensuring beacon light is on. All engine control switches in the correct position for a battery start, ensuring ignition switch in the normal position, electronic master switch goes on, electronic gyro's start to spin and a quick check on the voltmeter ensuring that we have 24.5 volts minimum for a battery start confirmed. We are clear left and right, a loud clear prop to anyone around the aircraft, fuel pump to ON, start switch goes on and immediately the loud electric-like whine and woosh of the compressor of the PT6 comes to life.
A quick check of oil and fuel pressure ensuring ops are normal as you do not want fuel going into the combustion chamber prior to light up. The fuel flow gauge confirm's ZERO, the loud metallic TICK-TICK-TICK of the igniters awaiting the arrival of fuel into the combustion chamber. Back quickly to the Ng gauge or compressor speed gauge, expressed as a %, minimum to introduce fuel into the combustion chamber is 12%. The Ng rises swiftly past 12% and because the higher the compressor RPM, the more smooth the start will be, I let it rise up to 18%. It stabilizes and I smoothly introduce fuel by moving the fuel condition lever from idle cut-off to low idle. A fuel flow indication of around 100pph indicates correctly, the dull woomff of fuel igniting and the immediate smell of burnt jet fuel indicates first stage light-up.
All of your attention turns now to the ITT gauge. The engine spooling up quickly now and a secondary dull woomf and woosh signals second stage light-up and the ITT soars rapidly towards the maximum limits. With one hand on the fuel lever and one hand on the start switch ready for a possible hot-start, you hope and pray that the volatile cocktail of jet-fuel and air stabilizes before it reaches maximum temperature limits, which is 1090C. For 2 seconds on start-up, all of a sudden, the swiftly rising ITT needle stops its ascent and decreases back to a stable 650C. All engine perimeters checked, all stable and you are ready to rock.
Start-switch to off, standby power to armed position, ensure generator is charging the battery, fuel switch to norm and avionics master 1 and 2 both on and you are ready to taxi-out. Get the air conditioning on for your passengers and test the electronic master warning system prior to taxi. All this happening in less than a minute. I cant tell you the smile on my face after that little sequence. Call me easily pleased!
Once started, a turbine is very simple to operate and the caravan is one of the nicest flying aircraft around. A pleasure in all conditions, with its beautifully harmonized controls. It really is a pilots dream machine, incredibly capable. With reverse thrust, huge flaps, de-icing, weather radar and a full auto-pilot it is capable of operating anywhere in almost any weather. I loved my conversion and I can not wait for the opportunity to fly the aircraft operationally in the very near future!
- CaravanPilot.com
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Monday, January 25, 2016
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Article - Stories from a Night Express Caravan Cargo Pilot - Romance by Bob Tilden
Stories from a Night Express Caravan Cargo Pilot
Romance
by Bob Tilden
I walked through shallow puddles of water as I made my way to the airplane. The sky was dull but not at all disagreeable, with passable visibility under a low overcast. For the first time in almost a month the temperature was above freezing, but a barely perceptible drizzle dampened the thrill. I regarded our two airplanes as I walked towards them in the fading light of late afternoon, and thought "there is no romance today".
The morning had dawned with the same gray sky that now hovered overhead, but the morning's drizzle froze to the airplanes and the taxiways. For the second time in the week, I had been stranded in Rochester for the day because of freezing rain, and that fact alone had made me a bit grumpy.
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| Sunset view from the cargo Caravan |
I don't know if I subconsciously edited my thoughts about romance, but after the thought had passed through my mind, I was glad that I hadn't thought "the romance is gone". The thought of "gone" would have been ominous, but a temporary loss is understandable. Still, it was an alarming thought.
It had been a long time since a flight had made me feel like a little kid at Disneyland. It seemed that there had been an unending string of days where the earth disappeared shortly after takeoff and reappeared only a few minutes prior to landing. Some of those flights had been on top of the clouds, in starlight or bright sunlight, but maybe just a few minutes a day of sunshine aren't enough to keep my batteries charged.
This was sort of an unusual flight because we would be flying our planes empty, back to Elmira to pick up the evening load and return to Rochester with it. I thought that it was kind of neat to be able to jump into the plane and go, without waiting for loading or paperwork. It was almost as though I was in my own plane.
The last light of day had all but faded into night as I left the ground and climbed into the clouds. There was no romance; I just sat there doing some paperwork and watching the temperature drop as I gained altitude, expecting icing temperatures at any moment. After climbing through a mile of murky gray, just as the temperature dropped to freezing, I broke through the tops into a clear sky.
I had climbed from night into twilight. Above the layer of clouds was the last few minutes of the day's sunset, orange and red along the horizon and fading rapidly through the blues into black. To my left, a big orange moon had just cleared the cloud deck, and shined its light across the gleaming ocean of white below me. Orion the hunter, an evening constellation in the early fall, but a sunset constellation in the late spring, was almost overhead.
The sight of the day's last colors is something that we start to see in April, with our usual eight o'clock departure times. This evening was sort of an early preview, a reassurance that winter is not forever.. With Orion overhead at sunset, there was no mistaking February for April, but perhaps the spirits were sending me a small morsel to tide me until spring.
The seasons and their weather are a continuous ebb and flow, but the worst is past. The days are starting to gain strength and the force of each new winter blast will be dulled and shortened. Grass will green, birds will sing, and flowers will bloom. The world will be a safer place for romance.
*The author Bob Tilden flew a Caravan for a Night Express cargo company for 10 years and has also written a book, Gone Flyin'. To order it, visit goneflyin.com or search Gone Flyin' on ebay.com
- CaravanNation.com
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Feel free to follow us on Instagram! @Caravan.Nation
Hello Caravan Nation! If you haven't already, feel free to follow us on Instagram to find more interesting information and THE best Caravan gallery on the internet! Click the following link to find us @Caravan.Nation
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Friday, December 11, 2015
Morning's Glories, Evening's Worries by Bob Tilden
Stories from a Night Express Caravan Cargo Pilot
Morning's Glories, Evening's Worries
By Bob Tilden
Each morning as I climb away from Newark, I wonder what sort of glory will be provided by the coming dawn. By the time that the sun actually rises I will be 150 miles away, but still I look at the day's first light in the northeast to see if the sky offers a hint. I watch, wait, and anticipate while daybreak moves into dawn.
As the sky brightened last Wednesday morning, I could see a cloud bank in the distant right. It was unusual in that it was a fairly regular deck of tightly grouped puffy clouds with a jagged ...almost saw-toothed... ridge of clouds at its far edge. The ridge contained small clouds that were profoundly vertical in nature; almost like miniature thunderheads. It became apparent that I was gradually converging with these clouds as I traveled northwest.
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| The sun makes a bright spot on the horizon as I cruise above puffy clouds at 8000ft. |
I took several pictures as I flew along in the brightening sky, and by the time that I was crossing Canandaigua Lake, the cloud deck had melted into a thick haze below my altitude. The vertical clouds had crumbled too, but their remnants cast long shadows into the golden sunlight that had set the haze aglow. It was a fascinating sight, like pillared ruins standing in desert sands.
I knew that I was looking at the pretty side of bad news, but that was OK. There was talk of thunderstorms for that evening, and the sight of small clouds able to blow straight up at dawn is a confirmation that the atmosphere was becoming unstable. Wednesday was hazy, hot, and humid, and it was no surprise to see thunderstorms erupt in the late afternoon.
I had an uneventful 8 PM trip from Elmira to Rochester, but my 10 PM departure from Rochester was made in rain that was flanking a thunderstorm. I paralleled the easterly track of the storm until I could cut in front of it, and thought that my worries were over. The controller called to say that "the computer" had re-routed my flight over the Catskills rather than the Poconos, but that the storms in that area were dissipating rapidly. I flew on happily, with the assurance given by the controller.
As I crossed Hancock, I passed into the next control sector, and things were different. This was a more easterly sector, closer to the action around the City. It was apparent that this sector was the twilight zone, where the Computer's projections were met by the facts of the weather. Some poor guy in a business turboprop wanted to turn right, around a storm, but the controller couldn't let him. Other planes were being given holding instructions.
I realized that the rest of this flight would be busy, because once planes start to hold, there is no guarantee of anything. Arrival could be delayed minutes or hours, and the hold could last so long that the plane would have to go someplace else for fuel before resuming the trip. Once you are given a hold, you have to know what sort of weather is around, what airports are available for refueling, and how long you can stay in the hold before you must break away.
I was just entering the sector, and as soon as the controller got the other planes settled into holds, he told me to return to Hancock and hold there. For the next half hour I flew race- track ovals ten miles on a side while I figured my options and listened to what was going on ahead of me. When I was released from the hold I was told that there would be no further delays, but shortly I was put into a stack of other company Caravans in a holding pattern near Port Jervis.
After fifteen minutes we were sent on our way one by one, a caravan of Caravans in a line heading for Newark's short runway. We landed, and the first guys helped the later arrivals tie their planes down, so that we could make the long walk to the freight terminal together. We laughed about the evening, exchanged the last 24 hours of Company gossip, and told the usual sorts of jokes on the way in.
We walked in long purposeful strides, anxious to close out the flights and sit down for a quick nap. After all, it was only three hours before time to take off and wonder what sort of glories will be provided by the coming dawn.
*The author Bob Tilden flew a Caravan for a Night Express cargo company for 10 years and has also written a book, Gone Flyin'. To order it, visit goneflyin.com or search Gone Flyin' on ebay.com
- CaravanNation.com
Update: Wasaya Airways Grand Caravan cargo airplane was found
*Update - Wasaya Airways has issued this statement: Wasaya Airways has learned Search And Rescue (SARs) ground crews have reached the aircraft site of Wasaya flight 127.
December 11, 2015
Wasaya Airways has issued a statement at 9:21 am. that it has received information that Flight 127 was "overdue and no longer in radio contact."
Upon arrival, crews found the lone occupant of the aircraft, our Captain Nick Little, not responsive and he could not be resuscitated. Rescue crews are on site now and will remain on site through the night awaiting additional resources to airlift our fallen crew member home.
Rescue efforts were hindered by poor weather conditions in the area. A helicopter dispatched was unable to reach the site due to heavy icing. The Ontario Provincial Police, together with SARs technicians, launched a ground rescue initiative at approximately 3:51 PM when it was clear the helicopter was unable to reach the site. The SARs Techs arrived at the aircraft site on foot at approximately 10:50 PM.
Michael Rodyniuk, President and CEO of Wasaya Airways said, “We are devastated by the loss of Captain Little. We have lost a dear friend and valued colleague. Our thoughts and prayers are with Nick’s family.”
More information will be released as soon as it becomes available.
December 11, 2015
Wasaya Airways has issued a statement at 9:21 am. that it has received information that Flight 127 was "overdue and no longer in radio contact."
The airplane of concern is a Cessna Grand Caravan. It was carrying cargo from Pickle Lake, ON Canada (CYPL) to Wapekeka First Nation, ON. (CKB6).
The flight distance of 166.5mi (268km) should have taken about an hour.
It is believed that there is only one person on-board, the pilot.
Search and Rescue personnel are actively searching along the flight path.
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