Turbo Charged Airvans in Kununurra
That's right.
A well known operator has started upgrading the Airvan fleet to the new turbo charged Airvans.
As a Pilot that would be fantastic, more power, better take off and climb performance in the inland areas and climb performance at altitude etc however one can only wonder what will happen when the young whipper snappers are being let loose with the TIO-540. While a proven and reliable engine they do tend to cause heart ache for the operators if they are abused, run too lean or mishandled. I certainly remember cringing at the way the engines were operated in my time on pistons by both junior and even some senior type Pilots. Instructors where generally the worse treating every engine like it was an 0-235 or 0-200.
I certainly would not want green Pilots being let loose with one. Perhaps the extra payload they can carry will compensate for the increased maintenance costs. Most of those bungles scenics are however generally done from a low level and most strips have plenty of runway available to them.
Thoughts?