Nooooooo, that's the LAME calling for crack cam to inspect the rear structure (ring gears) for fatigue. I hear this particular C209 has done over 80,000 hours since new and never skipped a beat, but better safe then sorry! :}

about time someone put this worthwhile discussion at the top of the boards again! the other stuff was boring me. :}

...disco

Great thread...first laugh out loud thread I have seen on PPrune in years.:D

C209
 

AAHH yes the old faithful C209 'Widowmaker'.
Having done many thousands of hours flying the queen of the skies, I have perfected the art of taming this wonderful over powered beast of a machine.
As I hail from New Zealand, most of my work involves possom recovery and rehabilitation back into their natural habitat, ie squashed on the side of the road.
As I have had to fly the 209 in the bad wx configuration at all times for these operations, I also developed a method of putting my arm out the window, while flying at 20", 2400rpm, the magnificent 209 WILL FLY SIDEWAYS!! This allows me to grab a possum by its tail from the top of the tree and place it inside the aircrafts huge cabin.
A fellow partner of mine once managed to pile around 2000 of these furry wee f:mad: ers in the spacious cabin although claimed that after 1800 his arm was rather tired, and fuel was becoming an issue.
After years of performing these ops, I came to the conclusion that helicopters are for wimps.
Jafa

my baby
 

I am a proud owner of the wonderful C209 specimen, and I have a long standing relationship with the ole girl, she has stood by me thru 7 marriages (4 divorces) and 43,000 hours of hobbs time, (only 28,000 of these were in the air but I log via the ardmore system).
I currently use 2 of these aircraft, one for topdressing and the other for hedge-trimming. Like jafa i use the "arm out the window" technique while hedge-trimming, and have also found that this technique helps the glide performance of this machine, increasing it to approximately 1 metre every 790'.
Just a warning to Tiger, when you get your rating remember no more then 1.6 degrees nose up as this aircraft has similar tail strike tendencies to Singapore Airline jets. Good luck to you tho, im sure you will most enjoy flying this OPB (over-performing-beast)
milky

so how did that checkflight go tiger?

what was covered, so some aspiring C209 drivers can get a heads up? :confused:

...disco

G'day Disco...

The checkflight was very interesting! At first the machine flew like a plate of mashed pumpkin. Trying to land the thing reminded me of the time I was riding a horse and it jumped off a 30 storey building. Glad the horse softened the impact for me.

But anyway... Once i'd gotten use to the thing it was kind of relaxing. Very stable due to the long fuselage and very responsive controls in the cruise.

Usual stuff for the checkride, although steep turns were forbidden in this particular aircraft because they had temporarily removed the wing struts. I was told that the HF antenna would help hold the wings on.

In the end I didn't take the job and came back to Aus. I decided against living in India, and the wild croc injury didn't help either :ouch: .

Cheers,
Tiger.

I hope this isn't too far off the topic, but I had heard of a Turbine conversion for the 209, does anyone know if there is anyone who could do the conversion and some details of what they are putting up front.
A nice pic would be good too!

Scrambler. Dry Twotter posted a photo of the turbine conversion prototype C418 (so designated as a double C219).

The engine installed is the Armstrong-Siddeley Double Mamba gas turbine turboprop engine, used mostly in the Fairey Gannet anti-submarine aircraft developed for the Fleet Air Arm in the late 1940's.

The Double Mamba (also known as the Twin Mamba) was a development of the Armstrong-Siddeley Mamba with two Mambas driving contra-rotating propellers through a combining gearbox. Engine starting was by cartridge, however, forced air restart was achieved in flight. One engine could be shut down in flight to conserve fuel.

The engine installed in the prototype C418 was recovered from a derelict RN Gannet.

Many Drop Zones throughout Australia have placed orders for this model with the turbine. The performance stats for it are that it will out climb any C208 or 750XL whilst taking over 20 skydivers.....now we are getting into skyvan/twotter material here :8

It has also been "rumoured" that there is a newer model coming out (would of been similar that that one you flew in your check flight) the strutless C209 series..... This series is being designed to compete with its brother the high performance single C210...a RG model is also in the pipeline....

CMN :ok:

CMN, you might want to confirm your sources are reliable - check this prototype out! :}


http://p.airliners.net/photos/middle/9/0/9/0459909.jpg

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0459909/M/
That secret hangar must have a damn good team of airframe engineers to turn a C209 into...well, I guess that must be the C211! You were right about it being RG and strutless. :E

Well it appears that your sources are alot more credable than mine LZ, but as you said it is strutless and RG :E

G'day ZEP,

THAT ONE MUST be the VERY FIRST prototype.......it is WAY TOOOO SHORT!!
I think I will await the 'Stretched 18 - 22 Seat' Version.....Strutless and 'RG' is Real Good!..
My 'deposit' cheque is in the mail....:ok:

I have found this to be an extremely valuable thread, full of great information to use in my forthcoming aviation career.:ok:

I'm sure I will be able to impress potential employers with my knowledge of the c209 (c207-900) and I owe it all to this thread.

A big thank you to all for doing your bit to enhance my career.:}

Just goes to show that some of the best threads on Proon are found in the pages further down the list.

Perhaps I should get a c209 endo in the hopes of expanding my aviation exposure and filling those 'hard to fill' vacancies in GA?

I'd be keen to hear any stories from others who have trained on it.:E

Cheers,

ABX

................there is the C205, 206, 207, 208 then the No's jump to the C210...............was wondering where the C209 got to.................!:-)........................

capt Wally :-)

Wally,

C209... officially known as a C207-900, however Cessna later advertised it as a C209 to differentiate it from the standard 207. Cessna was originally planning on calling the c210 a 209, however obviously this could no longer occur since the 207-900 was advertised as a C209. So really the C209 designator was only used for a very short advertising campaign, and then forgotten. :sad:

Also, while reading my student doctor training books I noticed that an air ambulance service overseas were using C204's about 40 years ago. They were C182's which had been modified in various ways to accommodate 2 stretchers. One interesting mod was to convert it to a low wing design, and move the engine to the right wingtip thus allowing a stretcher to be stored in the nose. ;)


Cheers,
Tiger.

...about time someone put this thread back there it belongs.... the top :D

...disco

RVAC has just concluded a deal to get one of these rare beasts on hire shortly. trouble is we don't have enough spare headsets for all the pax.

I'm a bit disturbed by this post, altogether too cheery and happy for PPrune. Not enough misery and pathos, so I'll get things back on track...

1. How about that MCL? We're all doomed.
2. Jet* don't pay enough!!
3. CadetsCadetsCadetsCadetsCadetsCadetsCadets
4. VB don't pay enough!
5. CASACASACASACASACASACASACASACASACASACASA
6. InstructorsInstructorsInstructorsInstructorsInstructorsInstr uctors
7. No-one's got any airmanship these day!!
8. Do we say "Leaving 9000" or "Left 9000"

Let's hope that gets things back on an even keel.