Tony Cestnik, president of Anchorage, Alaska-based Aero Twin, carved a niche for himself and his business by making the Cessna Caravan more rugged to operate in the bush, and the experience he built in that untamed territory shaped his approach to the process.
Cessna 208 Caravan
January 10, 2013 - 2:05pm
Cessna Aircraft’s Grand Caravan EX received FAA type certification and has outperformed initial targets, the company announced today. Powered by a new Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140 turboprop engine, the Grand Caravan EX boasts a 38-percent improvement in rate-of-climb over a stock Grand Caravan, a figure that exceeds the original 20-percent improvement projection. Deliveries to customers have already started.
December 3, 2012 - 1:16pm
A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan was destroyed in a November 18 crash that occurred about 10 a.m. shortly after takeoff from Snow Lake Airport (CJE4) in Manitoba, 360 miles north of Winnipeg. The pilot was killed while the eight passengers aboard were seriously injured. Authorities were notified of the crash into a remote region east of the airport after one of the injured passengers used a cellphone to call for help.
October 29, 2012 - 11:30am
Blackhawk Modifications (Booth No. 4112) is pursuing a new supplemental type certificate (STC) related to its XP42A upgrade package for the Cessna 208B Caravan.
October 17, 2012 - 12:05pm
Blackhawk Modifications is in the final stages of STC flight testing for a Cessna 208 Caravan XP42A upgrade package. It includes a factory-new Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A rated at 850 shp continuous, a wide-chord, 100-inch Hartzell four-blade propeller, composite cowling and high-efficiency inlet duct, 40-percent-larger oil cooler, engine hose kit, Blackhawk Hawkeye DigiLog engine gauges and Frakes exhaust stacks.
August 17, 2012 - 9:15am
Blackhawk, a U.S.-based provider of performance improvements for single- and twin-engine turboprop aircraft, is adding staff to meet growing demand in Brazil and other Latin American nations.
August 15, 2012 - 2:58pm
Today at LABACE 2012, Blackhawk announced that it sold a Caravan XP42A performance upgrade system–the first in South America–to Trans Guyana Airways, a charter and scheduled flight services carrier based in Ogle, East Coast Demerara, Guyana.
July 9, 2012 - 7:00pm
GE is close to having its 800-shp H80 turboprop flying on certified aircraft, thus throwing the gauntlet to the ubiquitous Pratt & Whitney Canada (P&WC) PT6A engine. The first H80-equipped Ayres Thrush 510G cropduster was to be delivered in June. Smyrna Air Center is flight-testing an H80-powered King Air C90, aiming for STC in the third quarter of 2012.
