kwmoore
10-27-2007, 12:00 PM
I arrived Thursday afternoon to pick up my new Katmai. I've flown it four times, including some refresher dual with Todd. It's wonderful and I'm elated: 5-6 kt faster than my previous 260se, and with the Katmai's extra 4-5 kt low end cushion. More on that later.
This morning Todd took me out for a demo flight in the IO-550-powered King Katmai. With some counterweight in the tail, the slow-speed behavior is similar to the 260hp plane so I won't comment on that. However there were some other notable aspects! ;)
First, on startup one immediately notices the huge prop arc. Compared to what I'm used to, it seemed like Todd had appended a helicopter rotor to the front end.
Second, this is an amazingly smooth installation. When he advanced the throttle for taxi, runup, and even takeoff I was tempted to look around outside the plane to see who else was powering up. You could hear it, but barely feel it. It's literally turbine-smooth, and as good as or better than any platinum-engined, 6-point engine mount SR22 I've flown.
Finally, while the augmented acceleration and shortened takeoff roll are certainly noticeable compared to the 260se, what's really eye-popping is the climbout. After 250 feet or a little more the plane literally vaults off the runway and the climbout is very steep. I was only half joking when I said to Todd, "Takeoff roll 250 feet, takeoff roll to clear a 50 ft obstacle 310 feet."
Of course all of this comes with some tradeoff. Takeoff and climbout fuel burn is an eye-watering 28 gph, more like 29 gph at sea level. The higher cruise fuel consumption will mean a shorter range, although the engine ran quite nicely LOP at 12.5-13 gph at low altitude. And I would imagine the engine-prop combination will be $10K or so more than the IO-470.
As I've mentioned before, in a plane like mine with standard gear and speed kit, it would almost be too much power: one would have to be constantly mindful of staying in the green arc, because at usual cruise altitudes of 10,000 feet and below it would nudge or exceed the top of the green if you ran best power, rich of peak. OTOH if one were a full-time LOP operator you could likely keep IAS in the mid-high 130's, just under the top of the green.
However, for mountain fliers and those who cruise above 12,000 it should be a great product. I'm quite satisfied with my IO-470, but if I'm still in the game when it hits TBO I might consider switching to the IO-550 just for the WOW factor in my final few years of flying.
This morning Todd took me out for a demo flight in the IO-550-powered King Katmai. With some counterweight in the tail, the slow-speed behavior is similar to the 260hp plane so I won't comment on that. However there were some other notable aspects! ;)
First, on startup one immediately notices the huge prop arc. Compared to what I'm used to, it seemed like Todd had appended a helicopter rotor to the front end.
Second, this is an amazingly smooth installation. When he advanced the throttle for taxi, runup, and even takeoff I was tempted to look around outside the plane to see who else was powering up. You could hear it, but barely feel it. It's literally turbine-smooth, and as good as or better than any platinum-engined, 6-point engine mount SR22 I've flown.
Finally, while the augmented acceleration and shortened takeoff roll are certainly noticeable compared to the 260se, what's really eye-popping is the climbout. After 250 feet or a little more the plane literally vaults off the runway and the climbout is very steep. I was only half joking when I said to Todd, "Takeoff roll 250 feet, takeoff roll to clear a 50 ft obstacle 310 feet."
Of course all of this comes with some tradeoff. Takeoff and climbout fuel burn is an eye-watering 28 gph, more like 29 gph at sea level. The higher cruise fuel consumption will mean a shorter range, although the engine ran quite nicely LOP at 12.5-13 gph at low altitude. And I would imagine the engine-prop combination will be $10K or so more than the IO-470.
As I've mentioned before, in a plane like mine with standard gear and speed kit, it would almost be too much power: one would have to be constantly mindful of staying in the green arc, because at usual cruise altitudes of 10,000 feet and below it would nudge or exceed the top of the green if you ran best power, rich of peak. OTOH if one were a full-time LOP operator you could likely keep IAS in the mid-high 130's, just under the top of the green.
However, for mountain fliers and those who cruise above 12,000 it should be a great product. I'm quite satisfied with my IO-470, but if I'm still in the game when it hits TBO I might consider switching to the IO-550 just for the WOW factor in my final few years of flying.