SEARCA – being the biggest Beechcraft 1900D operator in Colombia and the region – has an important experience with the PT6A-67D engines that power this fleet and that are similar to the XP67A. These engines are powerful and an excellent option for operators flying in hot and high airports and airfields, which is the case of some cities in Colombia such as El Dorado International Airport in Bogota, El Olaya Herrera in Medellín, Pasto and Ipiales among others, where the thermal efficiency of these engines allow us to operate in these kind of airports with the maximum payload and the engine power not at its maximum performance (take off maneuvers with climb power instead of maximum takeoff power). These power settings allow us to operate the engine more efficiently, increasing the durability and decreasing the operating costs. SEARCA is excited to have its King Air 350 powered by the XP67A in order to enjoy the cruise speed and climb performance based on the preliminary data provided by Blackhawk during the flight tests. We were impressed by the performance improvement when we installed the Blackhawk XP52 engines on our King Air 200 and SEARCA expects the XP67A to be just as awesome.

I have 15 years and over 5000 hours of King Air 350 experience. I have had the thought over the years that this may be the finest aircraft ever built. Only one thing could make it better - "more power"! As luck would have it, Blackhawk brought the XP67A modification to market exactly in time for overhaul on the aircraft I fly. Our aircraft is treated like a Suburban with wings - seats full and baggage stacked. On one such occasion (Aspen, summer, loaded), I noted our departure performance closing in on the blank spaces in the handy tab data. That day stuck in my mind when it was time to recommend the XP76A modification to our group. The ability to maintain power as altitude increases applies to more than climb and cruise. Another tremendous advantage to the modification is the increase in value that comes with new engines. New engines with increased aircraft performance make the Blackhawk XP67A modification an obvious choice for my operation. Thank you, Blackhawk, for finally bringing this option to the King Air I fly with pride!

We demo’d two or three jets leading up to when we found out about the Blackhawk conversion. But we could not find a jet that could do the mission like the King Air 350. When we saw the Blackhawk conversion it was really just a no-brainer for us. The most impressive thing to me as a pilot is the climb. I deployed the vanes to climb above weather and didn’t fall below 1000 feet per minute all the way up. And the boss is very happy, too — we saved 40 minutes from Las Vegas to our hometown of Colombia, MS — a 1200NM trip. The new engines like to fly higher where the speed stays up and the fuel burn goes down. Our overall fuel consumption per trip is about the same. Of course, headwinds aren’t nearly as much of an issue when you have 30 to 35 knots to play with. And the props are so much quieter on the ground we can’t even hear the engines running. From takeoff to climb to cruise — it has all exceeded my expectations and we’re just really happy about the upgrade.