JetPROP Demo Flight

I recently had the pleasure of taking a demo flight in a new friend's JetPROP airplane. A JetPROP is a Malibu/Mirage converted to use a Pratt & Whitney PT6A turbine engine and a Hartzell 4-blade reversible propeller. It is apparently the better way to go for a turboprop Piper vs. buying the Meridian (the JetPROP has more horsepower, better climb performance, lower fuel flows, and near-equal cruise speeds).

I took some video of the flight which I have embedded below. Unfortunately youTube blurred the videos a good bit, but it will have to do for now. :)

BTW, if you'd like to see a professional video of a very similar aircraft, the Piper Meridian, check out FlightVideoProductions (they have a few other cool videos for sale as well - think I will get the Col 400 one).

Part 1:


Part 2:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Nice avionics... nice plane. And the turbine sound is so lovely.
December 19, 2008 at 5:36 AM
DaveG said…
I use Vimeo to host videos - they don't mush them up in the way YouTube does,
December 19, 2008 at 7:32 AM
Jason (Photon) said…
DaveG, thanks, I will try that out!
January 9, 2009 at 9:03 AM
Unknown said…
The JetProp is a fantastic plane. Really incredible performance compared to the other turbine singles. 3000 fpm climb rates, and I have seen overspeed "problems" with the stock 1500 fpm IFR cruise climb rate.

Glad you enjoyed the flight. I get to fly them full time wandering the globe as a career.

For some of my worldwide JetProp trip photos and oceanic JetProp adventure stories, take a look at my site at www.holland.aero (media and photos are the best two sections).

Safe flying!
Travis Holland
March 6, 2009 at 2:52 PM
Jason (Photon) said…
Travis, thanks for the comment.

That is absolutely an incredible airplane! It's a bit too complex for me, but boy does it move! :)

Thanks for the link, I enjoyed reading some of those PDFs...
March 6, 2009 at 8:12 PM
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