Texas Turbines Soups Up Caravan

Texas Turbines says it can get more utility out of the world's best-selling utility aircraft. Company President Bobby Bishop told AVweb at the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In that the installation of a 900-shp Honeywell turbine to replace the 675-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 installed at the factory not only enhances performance, the more efficient Honeywell engine uses less fuel than similarly-sized powerplants. The performance improvements are impressive -- the plane takes off faster on wheels and floats, climbs faster and the Grand Caravan prototype they are testing cruises at 199 knots, about 30 knots faster than a stock airplane. The extra performance is especially welcome in icing conditions, where the Caravan has come under scrutiny in recent years. The Caravan project grew from Texas Turbines' popular turbine conversion of the de Havilland Otter.

The same Honeywell turboprop that is in the Caravan conversion is used to replace the Otter's old radial engine. The performance improvements on the Otter are considerable, adding speed and agility to a bushplane already revered for its STOL capability. But there are only about 60 piston Otters still flying, and Texas Turbines isn't the only turbine conversion vying for that business. Bishop says the Caravan will eventually replace Otters for much of their work and, since they are still in production, offer a longer-term market opportunity for the company.