V8 Mod for King Airs Another Year Away

While Orenda Recip is having success obtaining STCs for its 600-hp V8 turbocharged engine in agricultural and utility aircraft, the same cannot be said for its troubled King Air retrofit program. That program’s STC is now not expected for another 12 months, a delay of one year from the previously rescheduled target date. Stevens Aviation, which ordered more than 140 of the 600-hp engines when the Orenda program was in its infancy, still intends to provide retrofits if the mod meets the promised performance numbers–among them a 50-kt speed increase, nearly double the climb rate and improved fuel economy.