And receives a powerful endorsement from the proud owner
After conducting a 2021 pre-purchase inspection, PremierMRO has progressively upgraded just about everything on a King Air 350, most recently the engines. The aircraft now sports a pair of new PT6-67As as part of a Blackhawk modification package. The new engines give significant “oomph” to the 350, with faster climbs and higher cruise speeds.
The owner, Richard H Brown, is pleased and cites a unique collaboration with the PremierMRO team, especially Mick Waltz an engine specialist who has worked with Brown since the aircraft first came into the shop. Says Brown: “We chose Premier over other competitors. They handled the total conversion flawlessly, within budget and on-time. We now prefer them to do our annual maintenance and all other work versus other aircraft maintenance facilities that are closer to our Atlantic coast location.”
Initial Upgrades
When Brown purchased the aircraft, the first priorities were a new G1000 flight deck, paint and interior, all handled by PremierMRO. Premier additionally completed a 1-4 phase inspection in July of 2023 including the removal, disassembly, inspection and reinstallation of landing gear. But Waltz noted that the engines were high time –approximately 250 hours from overhaul, and started to research best options for overhaul or replacement.
Identifying the Best Engine Solution
He and Brown considered covered exchange engines, Blackhawk 60A engines and the Blackhawk XP67A engines. Waltz recommended the Blackhawk XP67A mod as the best solution for the upgrade, noting the engine’s superior performance. Advisor and owner agreed it was an investment in performance and an enhancement in the aircraft’s value. The contracts for the engines were signed in August 2024 with the XP67A’s delivered mid-December.
Blackhawk XP67A Upgrade
The King Air entered the Premier MRO hangar in Dayton, OH in February 2025 and the team went straight to work on upgrading the aircraft. To install the Blackhawk XP67A engines, the MRO team completed fabrication and sheet metal work to fit the larger sized engines. All of this intensive work took just a month and half to complete. The results spoke for themselves on the aircraft’s first flight out of Dayton after the engine upgrade. The pilot who flew the freshly upgraded King Air from Dayton to Florida remarked on the impressively smooth and fast cruise to altitude and how the engines sounded like two Ferraris.
“After 20 hours with the -67 engines and MT props, the latest climb to FL 310 took 17 minutes, 48 seconds,” said David Godin, pilot. “A healthy increase in TAS rounds it out. Figures are very close to Blackhawk performance charts. The owner is as happy with the ‘new’ King Air 350 as I am.”