Blackhawk Announces Engine Program for the Pilatus PC-12

Photo courtesy of Blackhawk

Blackhawk Aerospace, a company that has made a name for itself for its King Air and Caravan STCs, is taking the popular Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprop and applying their experience and a pending STC to improve on the performance of this model by upgrading the factory installed engine to the new Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67P.

The upgrade will give operators a PC-12 with a factory-new, higher-horsepower engine that utilizes new metallurgical technology, allowing higher internal turbine operating temperatures, providing maximum continuous power for climb and cruise. In addition, the 1200-horsepower engine represents 142 more thermodynamic horsepower than the original PT6A-67B powerplant. The improvement will be evident by the fact the original 67B engine starts losing power at 15,000 feet on a standard ISA day. The upgraded 67P will keep chugging along at full power to FL230, an altitude far closer to where the aircraft is happiest in cruise. That may be worth the cost of admission right there at the current estimated price of $800,000. And, while the upgrade will cost more than a standard overhaul, the additional benefits of a new engine, with greater performance, better efficiencies and the like will be improvements that cannot be obtained completing a standard overhaul of an existing 67B engine.

In addition to performance improvements, Blackhawk believes that this upgrade will be an easy decision for operators. This is especially since the upgrade would be a "factory-new" engine, with the unknown risks and associated potential costs of an overhaul of an existing 67B engine potentially mitigated, as well.

Also, if history is any indication, it's possible that the resale value of an aircraft with this upgrade would be priced in the market higher than those aircraft without the upgrade. Because of this, Blackhawk states that many of the pre-certification orders from customers are calling this a "no brainer", especially when compared to a normal overhaul.

Blackhawk states that they expect to receive FAA certification in the second quarter of 2023, with EASA approval expected as a fast follower.

PC-12 Gets Blackhawk Power

Sam WinerAuthor

Sam has his commercial fixed wing and rotorcraft rating, with just under 1,000 hours of total time. He owned a helicopter flight school in the Chicago area for over 11 years and worked as a pilot for radio traffic reporting services in the Chicago market. In addition, Sam has worked in the fast-paced radio news environment as a news anchor and traffic reporter in the Chicago, Milwaukee and Salt Lake City markets. His informative and humorous writing style, coupled with decades of experience in the aviation world, will provide easy reading with timely topics for the beginning aviator all the way up to the ATP professional.