After Bobby Bishop’s Texas Turbine Conversions converted the single-engine de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter from a PT6 to a TPE331 engine, the company needed another project. The Cessna Caravan looked like a good prospect, so Bishop bought a 1995 Cessna Grand Caravan 208B that had been used for hauling newspapers and had logged 9,000 hours. Combined with the Aero-Acoustics Aircraft Systems APE II payload extender high-gross-weight kit, this airplane was an ideal candidate for a fairly large power increase, from the original 675-shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A to the 900-shp Honeywell TPE331-12JR. Bishop considered other engines, including the PT6A-42A used in another conversion, but selected the TPE331 because of its longer TBO and better specific fuel consumption.
Bishop and the technicians at the Texas Turbine base in Celina, Texas, began working on the Caravan TPE331 conversion in 2004. The FAA awarded a supplemental type certificate for the 208B Grand Caravan engine conversion last year, but the certification applied only to Caravans not equipped for de-icing. Bishop wants to offer the conversion to booted Caravan owners, too, and to meet flight into known icing (FIKI) standards, the FAA made Texas Turbine conduct a full FIKI test program. Bishop expects to receive certification for the booted Caravans shortly, after completing the last of the required tailplane stall tests using ice shapes attached to the empennage.
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