I have a question about turbine performance that I hope someone can answer.

I learned to fly turbines in Florida earlier this year, and did my learning on a BVM BobCat equipped with a JetCat P-60. I was surprised at how well the P-60 performed. You can't go vertical with it on take-off, but you can do great verticals after building up a little speed.

Then I came back home (to Tennessee) and started flying the jet here. A couple of weeks ago I flew it in Chattanooga, and the jet didn't seem to have as much oomph. It might have been my imagination (maybe I'm just growing used to the jet's speed), but I could swear that the turbine didn't perform as well in Chattanooga as it did in Florida.

Could elevation be the difference? In Florida, I was only a few feet above sea level. In Chattanooga, I was 700 feet above sea level. Can 700 feet make a noticeable difference in a turbine's performance?

One other possibility for the difference in performance is fuel. In Florida, I was burning military-surplus Jet A. In Chattanooga, I was burning civilian Jet A. Is Jet A Jet A, or does the military use a higher grade?