Ok, for those of you considering attending Air Venture in Oshkosh this year, a MUST stop is to see the TMCX Turbine Moose!!! My wife and I recently had an opportunity to fly in the T-Moose compliments of Ken. ‘The Beast’ as it’s aptly called, is truly an understatement! The firewall forward PT6-20 installation that Ken and his amazing team at Cascade Aircraft Conversions have done is a work of art, both in aesthetic design and performance!!! Starting at the fibreglass nose cowl and back onto a perfectly formed aluminum engine cowl, this conversion turns an already great looking SR3500 Murphy Moose into the Ultimate Back Country Beast!! Ken and his team have meticulously thought of all the engine design components that enable this conversion to provide for an ease of operation, high performance turbine aircraft, that will easily provide the Back Country enthusiast ALL they need in reliability, comfort and mind blowing performance!! Our test flight provided us an opportunity to see first hand what this aircraft is capable of….From the take-off, with three adults, with about half tanks of fuel, on a very warm evening, we were airborne in what appeared to be just over 300’, transitioning to a staggering climb rate of 2000-2500’/min, to a normal cruise speed at about 4500’ indicating 160mph. The engine runs so smooth, there is literally zero vibration….. your coffee cup could sit on the glareshield and not spill a drop! A slow flight demonstration in cruise, at flight idle, clean, produced a very stable and steady reduction in airspeed, with full authority in pitch, roll and yaw, and we were ultimately unable to stall this aircraft!! Amazing. Full throttle recovery was equally as smooth with normal and expected application of rudder and pitch control, but a staggering and immediate increase in airspeed back to cruise flight configuration. This is a huge plus with the PT6 power plant! This airplane is so stable in cruise! It’s literally a hands-off airplane when trimmed. Landing with I believe 30’ of flap was incredible. Great forward visibility into the flare and a resultant very short landing using very little braking, relying mostly on the dynamic breaking provided by that big fully reversible prop! What an aircraft!!!
Mike & Tara Christian
