The People’s Turbine Makes Another Showing

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Our last update on the 188-pound turbines that put out 165 to 255 horsepower, with a TBO of 5,000 hours and price tag of between $26,500 and $34,500 was this past January. Innodyn LLC announced last week that the first customer-delivered turbine engine had flown in that customer’s RV-8 (renamed an RV-8T). Innodyn didn’t name the customer, nor did it provide much detail about this “first” flight, but says more information will be posted by the customer himself. “The turbine worked great, and we were up about 15 minutes and reached an altitude of about 9,000 ft,” Innodyn quotes its customer as saying. Further flights from the customer’s home base in Colorado are planned. A photo of the turbine-equipped RV and “additional images, video, and comments from the builder/owner will be posted in the near future,” according to Innodyn. Innodyn has previously installed a turbine in an RV-4 and regularly flies a turbine-equipped Super Cub replica to air shows. Last January, Turbine Cubs of Wyoming announced it had purchased Smith Aviation, a Cub replica manufacturer, and installed an Innodyn turbine in one of the former manufacturer’s PA-18 replicas, which it said had been inspected by the FAA and was set to undergo ground and flight tests. There’s been no update on the Web site and we weren’t able to reach anyone on the weekend.

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