Page 21 - Volume 14 Number 1

Engine Condition Trend Monitoring
Are you using ECTM? You should be.
Engine Condition Trend Monitoring (ECTM) is a Pratt and Whitney-endorsed program by which PT6 Hot Section Inspection (HSI) intervals may be accomplished on an “as needed” basis instead of on an hourly basis. The first step in ECTM is recording all engine parameters when steady in cruise flight. Unless that raw data is then entered into the appropriate computer program that will print graphs of the three parameters being
JANUARY 2020
by Tom Clements
tracked (ITT, N1 or Ng, and Fuel Flow, abbreviated Wf), extending HSI times is not allowed. Additionally, if the data recording does not start soon enough after the previous HSI or contains gaps in which data was not recorded for too many hours, ECTM becomes invalid. Due to these constraints, very few if any non-commercial King Air operators use ECTM for the purpose of possibly extending their HSIs. That is fine with me. Afterall, if you’re flying only a hundred hours or less a year, do you want to go over 18 years without examining the engine’s innards?
ASK THE EXPERT
KING AIR MAGAZINE • 19