Originally Posted by
Abbey2
OK. Thanks for the reply. As for Ice,is there some inherent adverse condition of this plane different from most other twins? I previously flew Caravan's and I'm pretty sure it can't be as bad as those.At least as far as power to weight ratio,as the Caravan's are underpowered in my opinion.
The 402 with KI equipment has boots on the wings and tail, and it seems to handle the ice just fine. My company is flying the 402C up in the northeast right now and we haven't had any problems. The only real issue I've seen is that because the boots are blown from the exhaust side of the vacuum pumps, they can be slow to inflate at higher altitudes (8000'+). That could also be because the boots have been patched up about 30 times, too.
Power/weight ratio is pretty nice on the 402. The airplane is decently overpowered when it's light, but if you're heavy it can be a bit of a dog. But, if you're heavy in the ice in a cruise climb and remain at takeoff power (no time limit), it'll do just fine. What does the Caravan weigh at MGTOW? The 402C with the vortex generator mod has a MGTOW of 7210 lbs, and with 650hp total you'll still see good performance out of it.