No, mine has the stock -112 engines. I've never flown a Blackhawk Conquest but I can tell you that I see about 10 its faster than book which means 255 @ FL270/280 and 265 at FL200. Blackhawk claims 280+ at FL240 which would be great for longer trips but I am not sure it is worth the price. The Blackhawk planes seem to get at least $200K more and that buys a lot of fuel and maintenance. For me, it would not be worth it.

Thanks Scott for the numbers.. your price advantage of $200k for the -135s is about what I am seeing as well.
Tom

The -112 engines are derated quite a bit already. The -112 engine will maintain max torque up to about 17,000 before becoming temp limited whereas the -135 holds max torque to about 24,000. So the -112 will make max power to a pretty high altitude unlike some of the KA C90 engines (-20 and -21 I believe) that become temp limited at sea level on a hot day. In those airframes the -135 makes a lot more sense.

The Blackhawks are much faster than that, I file 275 and regularly see 280+. I've had my 425 for about nine months now and your advice a few posts back was spot on. I file 275-280 and figure 600 lbs first hour and 480 after that. This was a recent trip with a departure about 200 under gross and torque per the charts.

What is a Conquest III?

What is the realistic range and useful load of a Conquest I? Also, what is the shortest runway you would operate out of?

I have 820 lbs useful with 2450 lbs of fuel. I use 1000 miles as a reliable and realistic no wind IFR range number. You can get into a bunch of places you could never get out of with the big props and reverse. 3000 ft should be operationally comfortable, but of course, longer is better when things don't go according to plan.

The Blackhawks are much faster than that, I file 275 and regularly see 280+. I've had my 425 for about nine months now and your advice a few posts back was spot on. I file 275-280 and figure 600 lbs first hour and 480 after that. This was a recent trip with a departure about 200 under gross and torque per the charts.

What temperature are you running?

My Blackhawks have the throttles rigged so I can only get 740 max temp at FL220. Definitely giving up some performance. Need to get that adjusted but also need to weigh any additional wear and tear at the higher temps.

Some numbers for my -112 Conquest I:

- Empty is 5373
- Full fuel is 2452
- Max gross is 8600
= useful load 3227

I use 500 lbs for hour 1 and 400 lbs for every subsequent hour. However if you climb straight to FL270/280 then I have found hour 1 is closer to 460 and every subsequent hour is about 360 assuming ISA+10 or 20. Typical speed at 270/280 for my plane is 255. BTW, I have had no issues at all taking off at gross and climbing directly to FL270 or 280. I still see 700 - 800 fpm before leveling off at 280. I think the speed covers help with this as before I installed them I saw more like 500 fpm at the top of climb.

I would not take off at sea level on anything less than 3000. Like the other poster said, you can easily get into airports that you cannot get out of.

I have 4 blade props, speed stacks, strakes, and speed covers. I see at least book+ 10 kts at 680C ITT (max is 695). Here's a photo from tonights flight doing 276 KTAS but burning a ton of fuel to fight the huge headwind.

Have you considered an MU-2? There are some well read BT folks that operate Mitsubishis and report costs that are less than what it was going to cost to operate a 421.

The OP asked about the PT6A powered 425 not the 421.