Cessna 208
 

Greetings from a brand spanking new frieghtdog! I just got hired by an outfit to fly a caravan, and i was courious if anyone had any materials or any resources, advice, for flying this beast. Ive got ground school starting on the 4th and id like to be well ahead.

Congratulations exerauflyboy. Would you care to share your experience and background with the others on the forum? Fly safe.

USMCFLYR

Ahhh the mighty 'Van. I hated that airplane for the first 100 or so hours, but after that you really come to love it. As far as flying it, it's honest, and almost impossible to mess up. You can take off with no flaps, the condition lever in low idle, the yaw damper on, bleed air heat and airconditioner on, inertial seperator in bypass, and a fuel selector off, hell, even both of them off (for about 4 mins. anyway) on and it will still go!

The weirdest thing about it is that it wags it's tail for about the first 500 or so feet while you're slow. Once you get the rudders figured out (for that big swinging prop out there) it's a blast to fly. If you fly one with a cargo pod, the total limit for the pod is the same as the temp. start limit (1090). Also, ALWAYS make sure to turn one of the fuel selectors off after you land or shutdown. It will transfer fuel like no other just sitting on seemingly level ground. Oh yeah, the low fuel lights blink off and on with over an hours worth of gas left, thats kindof annoying, but the boxes won't care. Enjoy it, it's fun to fly and painfully easy to operate. (Painfully slow too)

There's a book out there called "The Caravan, Swiss Army Knife of the Sky" that should be required reading, it's full of tips and tricks that are nice to know... For instance, there is a max fuel imbalance of 200lbs. for flight, someone figured out that 8 circles standing on a brake will take care of that for you if you happen to forget to turn one of those selectors off...

Enjoy!

Nice work. I'm jealous. What qualifications did the employer require? How was the oral exam?
Dave

Congrats flyboy, the C208 is one of my favorite planes to fly. Enjoy your time in it, you'll never fly anything like it again.

This guy hit the nail on the head. Great airplane...very forgiving.

I flew the wings off of a Caravan as a diver driver...I've also had it in instrument conditions with a non-RNAV equipped King Silver Crown avionics suite. It is a solid platform that any Cessna bred pilot can handle.

I think AOPA had a really good article on the plane that you can pick up...I recall it discussed the useful 10-11-12 rule. 10 degrees of flaps, 1100 ft/lbs torque, and 120 knots for approaches.

If this is your first turbine aircraft, be careful on takeoffs. The torque indications will increase about 1-200 ft/lbs of torque when you're leaving ground effect. So, if you set the power right at the takeoff torque limit (the normal red line), you will likely cause an over-torque situation on the climb.

Just a few things I recall...maybe I'll remember a few more things later on.

Alright
 

Thanks guys! I'm just a little over the 135 mins, and just litterally acouple hours short on instrument time. But ill make it up int the training.

On the morning of the 15th i was getting my first cup of coffee, when the chief pilot walked up to me and asked if i knew anyone that wanted to fly a carvan out of merced to mather. So i told him "Yea, Me!!!". I had a student, so i told him i'd have to discuss it later on with him around noon. When noon rolls around (after my 2 students are done) i see him in his office, we talk for abit about the run, my experience and so forth. The next morning i drop off my resume with my updated times, and he says tells me he wants to talk to me for about an hour later on that day (thursday). So i have about 2 hours to review and study for a part 135 interview (or so i think). After a hectic and furious study session. I walk in to his office, sit down, get asked something like four questions, BS for the rest of the time. Get the pee test test forum and im hired!!!! Ill get dual rated in the van and 402 (for when the van gets mx).

Yeah this is my first turbo prop and first 135 job, its a great company with great people, and in house mx that goes the extra mile (they fixed the planes i taught in). And thanks for all the help guys, KEEP IT COMIN.

Just curious...what company is it? and where you are located?

redding aero, run starts in merced-modesto-mather (evening). Morning it goes in reverse.

I fly most of the Citations and they are fun. But, the Caravan is a blast! I'm flying one in Santiago, Chile later this month. I wouldn't worry too much about the airplanes initial class. After all it is the Caravan, very easy systems. Not that you should take your training lightly, it is just that it is a very simple airplane.

Just remember to check your power charts for take off and climb, pull the power back for descents (the G1000 system is nice for cruise because it shows you cruise power, but I doubt your cargo bird will have that system). Last thing you want as a new-hire is an ETM exceedence.The flap takes up 70% of the length of the wing, so you will need to trim with any flap setting. First 10 degrees can be put in just belowe Red Line (174kts). Prop is 8 foot in diameter, so when in the flare pull the power back to about 400 Ft/lbs of tourqe and she will just touch right down. Don't just pull it back to idle, with 20-30 degrees of flaps and a flat prop, because she will come down like a piano.

The Caravan is a great bird though! You will have fun with it!

Congrats!!!!

If i understand correctly, you are in California. I have flown the "Beast" for nearly five years. Very forgiving.... of all but two things. If you get really slow (stall speed) be good on the rudder: the spoilers keep the ailerons effective right up to stal and if you are bad on the rudder she will drop a wing. And in ice (I only flew the boot equipped birds) , she will carry tons of weight, but dont let her get slower than 110 to 120 kias or you could get into trouble.

For weight and balance, the UNOFFICIAL rule of thumb was if she didnt fall on her butt when you remove the tail stand, she is in CG.

)This is NOT an approved method) We used to fly into busy airports. 170 KIAS until the middle marker then power to idle. 150. first notch of flaps. Keep adding flaps (25 KIAS below safe speed) until you get them all in. At about 120, the prop will go flat, aim down, and you will touch down right at the 1000 foot markers.

Dont use reverse thrust umless absolutely required. It causes tones of erostion on the prop and can cause stuff to be ingested into the engine.

Enjoy her, she is a graceful, gentle, ol' girl who wont let your down!

(warning: all that I have said here is NOT APPROVED OR AUTHORIZED PROCEDURES. But they do work :) )

And finally, remember these times well: she might be the last bird you actually FLY!

Congrats and enjoy.
Fly Safe.
Blue Skies and tailwinds

208
 

Thanks for all tips guys! I have recently picked up the ASA book, and its a very interesting read.

How effective are the boots on the 208?

Congrats on getting the 'Van position! My first 135 job was also in a Caravan flying freight. When I passed my checkride I had something like 1200.5 TT. :) I really miss that plane; I had so much fun flying it.

I'll echo the earlier mentions about not getting slow in ice. How well the boots work will probably depend on how well they're taken care of. If it's like most freight Caravans I've seen, they're most likely neglected. You'll need a bit of airspeed to blow the ice off. I've heard a technique used by some guys is getting a block of altitude, descending and blowing the boots with the higher IAS. Of course, I heard about that AFTER I left that job, haha.

You'll learn this in training, but I will say it now... reduce the torque a little bit BEFORE pushing the Inertial Separator in, otherwise you'll probably wind up with bloody knuckles. I speak from experience! You'll do it at least once! :D

The Caravan and PC 12 are the most popular single engine turbo-props around.... can't say which one I like best??? the PC12 seems to be a more "passenger oriented" airplane, like an A319..... The Caravan seems like it build to last, a true work-horse, not a beauty but it'll get the job done, like the venerable 727...

anyway, congrats on the job

Photos: Cessna 208B Grand Caravan Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Photos: Pilatus PC-12/45 Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

Some of the boots are of a very interesting type: You have to let enough ice accumulate in order to seal the holes in them before you can get them to inflate.

Joe

Deliciously Deadly Dough
 

The Van ROCKS like a freakin' death biscuit! :D

One of the funnest planes I have flown. You will have tons of fun. Enjoy!

Hahaha, nice one!:D

Keeping them clean and dressed helps a ton. (Boot dressing is kinda like Armour All, makes the boots look shinny and makes them less sticky to water and ice)

The best thing about the 'Van is straight wing so you don't need to worry about Mach Tuck ;)

Great airplane, lot of fun. Doesn't really care for ice, but can take quite a bit.
If you have any ice, don't get slow...keep that speed up and you'll be fine.

Congrats and fly safe.

papa t

I have everything
 

just contact me with +971 50 363 0886 or [email protected]

Pdf. of Pilot Training Manual sent to email. Let me know you received it.

Van
 

And with G600, synthetic vision and TKS we fly them in really bad weather. They are pretty amazing haulers.

The TKS works real good in icing right up until it doesn’t. THAT’S when it gets interesting. There are a lot of good ‘turbine suburban encountered icing’ mishap investigations in the NTSB database. You need to read every one of them.

TKS
 

You clearly do not fly out of Spokane in the winter and as such are in error.

TkS
 

Thank you for proving my point. Those little black things are called “boots”. When you find one that had TKS we can talk. Spinner looks fine to me.

Holy smokes. That spinner pic is scary.

I stated that the TKS works well, right up until it doesn't. And ice can certainly accrete in areas the TKS doesn't cover. Don't get me wrong, I actually LIKED flying the Turbine Suburban. But the aircraft does have a ckeckered history with icing, and I think that anyone newly assigned to the aircraft ought to familiarize themselves with that history.

If that opinion offends you I'm sorry.

Thank you for posting.