San Pedro, Belize-based regional airline Tropic Air has been filming a series of new engine rigging videos on behalf of Pratt & Whitney for pilots, owners and maintainers of Cessna Caravan aircraft powered by either PT6A-114A or PT6A-140 engines. Rigging is the process of hooking up engines to an aircraft's body, an essential skill that requires precision and uniformity.

Filming took place in the company's new hangar and shows the basic set-up of the engine control system, final rigging and engine adjustments.

“It was an easy decision to assist Pratt & Whitney in making a PT6A engine rigging tool available in a format that can benefit my maintenance team and other Caravan operators,” says executive vice president John Greif IV. “This collaboration reflects both the high standard of training for our technicians and our long-standing relationship with Pratt & Whitney.”

The videos help save both time and money and ensure proper engine rigging for a single aircraft or for an entire fleet. The first series of videos for Cessna Caravan aircraft powered by the PT6A-114A engine is available now, while the next set of videos created for the Grand Caravan EX powered by the PT6A-140 engine will follow in August. Pratt & Whitney is already hard at work on the next engine rigging video series for the PT6A-powered Air Tractor.

“Our customers expect to be able to fly their aircraft on time, all the time,” says Pratt & Whitney vice president, general aviation Nicholas Kanellias. “The rigging video series is an example of how Pratt & Whitney is constantly finding new ways to offer customers easy access to the support and information they need, when it's convenient for them.”

Engine rigging is an art and the Pratt & Whitney engine rigging video series bring that art to life. “A properly rigged engine results in improved aircraft handling, less unscheduled maintenance, reduced operating costs and better environmental performance,” he adds. “The response we received to the 2018 King Air rigging videos was overwhelmingly positive, so we developed a new series for Cessna Caravans.”