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To explain this better, let’s take a step backward in time to illustrate a point. I own a 1940 LP-65 Porterfield. It is a historical tandem trainer airplane built before WWII (which means I love it already. I love old airplanes) that is affectionately called “the skinny bird” because it is so narrow. It is a fine airplane in every sense of the word, except for one thing: It has an engine that is not reliable – a Lycoming O-145. This was Lycoming’s first horizontally opposed engine, one they made just after they stopped making sewing ma- chines and automobile engines. It is a true historical engine, and it is not very reliable. There are more of these engines that are now the foundation for an FBO coffee table than are still
pulling airplanes through the sky. The O-145 is rated at 65 HP, but that is a stretch. There’s not a VSI in my Porterfield, but I bet the rate of climb is less than 200 fpm with two people on board. With one person, it probably climbs out at a whopping 300 fpm. It is just an atrociously underpowered airplane. If anything happened to the engine on takeoff or climb out that was minor, just something that would reduce the power a little such as loss of a cylinder, a broken valve spring, or carb ice, I seriously doubt the engine
would get me back to the runway. So, although I love the Porterfield, you fly the Porterfield differently than other airplanes. You are super-vigilant about knowing the wind; you listen to the engine carefully while still over the runway; you turn 30 degrees off run- way centerline so you have a chance of making “the impossible turn” pos- sible; you stay near the airport until
you have enough altitude to return to the airport; and we never take the Porterfield more than 100 nm from my home airport. Simply put, you fly the Porterfield with a different mindset than you fly an airplane with a strong and reliable engine.
This is the same inverse shift in mindset that you gain when moving from a piston to a turbine. The turbine relaxes the mind from troubles related to loss of power, either a complete loss of power or a reduc- tion in power. If you frequently fly over mountains, f ly at night, f ly low IFR, f ly over water, or f ly any other scenario where an engine failure could spell death or destruction, then the turbine has tremendous appeal. If I fly a North Atlantic crossing in a piston, I’ve got the immersion suit on up to my waist and I’m vigilantly scanning for trouble. If I’m in a turbine, I’m far less concerned. The shift in mindset is what many turbine wannabes want, and I don’t blame them.
Is the Turbine
Really Better?
Yes! If I can afford to sit behind a PT6, I’m sitting behind a PT6. In every way that matters, the PT6 is a better engine. Strong statement? Yes. But, search the heart and mind of anyone that operates both piston and turbine and this truth will come out. If money were no object, you too would sit be- hind a turbine, assuming fuel avail- ability and performance parameters are equal. If we are being honest, the turbine is better.
I mean, a piston engine is very old technology. The engines of
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April 2022 / TWIN & TURBINE • 11