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25-621: The Cessna 208 Caravan is a utility aircraft produced by Cessna . The project was commenced on November 20, 1981, and the prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984 and its Cargomaster freighter variant was developed for FedEx . The 4 ft (1.2 m) longer 208B Super Cargomaster first flew in 1986 and was developed into the passenger 208B Grand Caravan. The strutted , high wing 208 typically seats nine passengers in its unpressurized cabin,

50-498: A "tractor" configuration were the 1907 Santos-Dumont Demoiselle and Blériot VII . The first biplane airplane to have a "tractor" configuration was the Goupy No.2 (first flight on 11 March 1909) designed by Mario Calderara and financed by Ambroise Goupy at the French firm Blériot Aéronautique . It was the fastest airplane when it was made. At that time a distinction was made between

75-502: A certification by the end of 2021, hoping to operate 100 nmi (185 km; 115 mi) flights with a full load of nine passengers with better batteries. The 1,000th was delivered in 1998; the 1,500th in 2005; the 2,000th in 2010; the 2,500th in 2015; and the 3,000th in 2022. By March 2022, 24 million flight hours have been logged. Certified in 100 countries, Caravans are used for flight training, recreation, commuter airlines, VIP transport, cargo carriers and humanitarian missions. It

100-419: A certified flight instructor. On November 21, 2023, a Cessna 208 flew for the first time without any human on board. The plane was modified by Reliable Robotics to fly autonomously with a remote pilot able to send commands to the aircraft from 50 miles away via satellite communication to the onboard flight computers. Production aircraft modified after delivery by Supplemental Type Certificates : The eCaravan

125-415: A go-ahead by Cessna for its Pawnee engineering facility. John Berwick, chief engineer at Pawnee, conceived of a single engine, high-wing airplane with a large payload. Berwick had originally approached Vice President Bill Boettger with the idea and once Dwane Wallace approved it, Berwick told Russ Meyer he would design it. The prototype first flew on December 9, 1982. The production model was certified by

150-502: A last minute escape from Kabul to Tajikistan on an AC-208 moments before the city fell to the Taliban. In November 2021, Egyptian Army Cessna 208s were used to fight smugglers in western Egypt. On May 11, 2022, a Cessna 208 pilot became incapacitated resulting in a passenger with no flight experience successfully making an emergency landing at Palm Beach International Airport. The passenger was assisted by Air Traffic Controller Robert Morgan,

175-425: A low density passenger configuration, with 1-1 seating, as a combination of passengers and cargo, or as a strictly cargo aircraft. Many variants include an underbelly cargo pod, which can be used for additional freight capacity, or for passenger baggage. A number of Caravans are operated as skydiving aircraft with the left-side cargo hatch converted to a roll-up door. The airplane typically seats nine passengers with

200-465: A passenger aircraft with four doors: one for each crew member, an airstair door on the right side of the cabin and a cargo door on the left. The aircraft can be optionally fitted with an underslung cargo pod. The basic 208 airframe has a fixed tricycle landing gear but can also be fitted with various types of landing gear , allowing it to operate in a wide variety of environments. Some common adaptations include floats with retractable landing gear on

225-490: A propeller ("pushes the machine", akin to a ship's propeller) and a tractor-[air]screw ("pulls the machine through the air"). The Royal Flying Corps called the tractors "Bleriot type" after Louis Bleriot , and pushers " Farman type". A disadvantage of a single-engine tractor military aircraft was that it was initially impossible to fire a gun through the propeller arc without striking the blades. Early solutions included mounting guns ( rifles or machine guns ) to fire around

250-536: A propeller blade obstructed the line of fire were deflected rather than damaging the propeller. It was employed with immediate success by French aviator Roland Garros and was also used on at least one Sopwith Tabloid of the Royal Naval Air Service . A better solution was a gun synchronizer , which utilized a synchronization gear to shoot only at instants when the line of fire was unobstructed, developed by aircraft pioneer Anthony Fokker and fitted to

275-462: A single pilot, although with a FAR Part 23 waiver it can seat up to fourteen passengers. The aircraft is also used for cargo operations. The short-fuselage Caravan burns 48 US gal (180 L) of fuel per hour at 170 kn (310 km/h; 200 mph) for 200 nmi (370 km; 230 mi) stages. In August 2021, fearing Taliban reprisals, pilots of the Afghan Air Force made

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300-555: Is a general-purpose light airplane or helicopter , usually used for transporting people, freight, or other supplies, but also used for other duties when more specialized aircraft are not required or available. The term can also refer to an aircraft type certificated under American, Canadian, European, or Australian regulations as a Utility Category Aircraft , which indicates that it is permitted to conduct limited aerobatics . The approved maneuvers include chandelles , lazy eights , spins , and steep turns over 60° of bank. In

325-672: Is also used by government agencies in law enforcement, air ambulance services, police and military. The Cessna 208 is used by governmental organizations and by a large number of companies for police, air ambulance, passenger transport, air charter, freight and parachuting operations. FedEx operates 239 aircraft. A total of 123 Cessna 208s were in military service as transport in 2024. As of 31 December 2017, there have been 216 Caravan hull losses from all causes, including 206 accidents causing 427 fatalities – an average of 2 fatalities per hull-loss, with 29.7% of all occupants surviving fatal accidents; and six hijackings causing one fatality. For

350-598: Is an electric aircraft modification of the 208B built by AeroTEC and magniX powered by a 750 hp (560 kW) motor and a 1 t (2,200 lb), 750 V lithium-ion battery . The plane's 30-minute first flight happened from Grant County International Airport in Moses Lake, Washington, on May 28, 2020, consuming US$ 6 worth of electricity, needing 30–40 min of charging. The Magni500-powered variant can fly 100 nautical miles (185 km; 115 mi) with 4–5 passengers while keeping reserve power, and aims for

375-403: Is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A tractor turboprop and has a fixed tricycle landing gear , floats , or skis. By 2022, 3,000 had been delivered and 24 million flight hours have been logged. Caravans have been used for flight training , commuter airlines , VIP transport , air cargo , skydiving and humanitarian missions. On November 20, 1981, the project was given

400-593: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in October 1984. Deliveries began in 1985, and amphibious floats were approved that same year. A freighter variant without cabin windows was developed at the request of Federal Express as the Cargomaster. FedEx had been initially planning to build twin-engine piston-powered airplanes with Piper Aircraft , but picked the Caravan after surveying it and having flown

425-522: The Fokker E.I monoplane in 1915 . The first British "tractor" designed to be fitted with synchronization gear was the Sopwith 1½ Strutter . which entered service in early 1916. The problem of firing through the propeller's arc was avoided by passing the gun barrel through the propeller's hub or spinner  – first used in production military aircraft with the 1917 French SPAD S.XII   – or mounting guns in

450-602: The 198 out of the 216 hull-loss occurrences where the aircraft was in use and its flight nature is known, 36.9% were passenger flights , 33.8% cargo flights , 8.1% military flights , 5.6% special flights – agriculture , survey , etc., 4% private and business flights , 3% test or flight training and 8.1% miscellaneous uses – demonstrations, deliveries, illegal. Data from Cessna Textron General characteristics Performance Avionics Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Utility aircraft A utility aircraft

475-460: The Caravan Amphibian model, and skis. The Caravan interior can be outfitted with seats or as a cargo compartment. The standard high-density airline configuration has four rows of 1-2 seating behind the two seats in the cockpit. This variant is capable of holding up to thirteen passengers, although it is marketed as being able to make a profit carrying just four. The cabin can be configured in

500-728: The Chinese market. Chinese government approval was granted in September the following year and the first Chinese-assembled Caravan was delivered in December 2013. By April 2016 about 30 aircraft, assembled from kits of parts shipped from the US by Cessna, had been delivered to Chinese operators by the joint venture. The Cessna 208 is a high-wing braced cabin monoplane powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 A turboprop in tractor configuration . The cabin has room for nine passengers and two crew when used as

525-663: The United States, military utility aircraft are given the prefix U in their designations . This aircraft-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Tractor configuration In the early years of powered aviation both tractor and pusher designs were common. However, by the midpoint of the First World War , interest in pushers declined and the tractor configuration dominated. Today, propeller-driven aircraft are assumed to be tractors unless stated otherwise. The first successful airplanes to have

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550-801: The piston-powered 172 , 182 , 206 and TTx , and the Citation M2 light jet. The move was made to make room for production of the Citation Longitude and Denali in Wichita. In 2023, the 208 Caravan unit cost was US$ 2.32 million and US$ 2.61 million for the 208B Grand Caravan EX. In May 2012, Cessna announced that an assembly line for the 208 would be established in China, with the government-owned China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA) conducting final assembly of Caravans at its plant in Shijiazhuang for

575-441: The propeller arc, either at an angle to the side – which made aiming difficult – or on the top wing of a biplane so that the bullets passed over the propeller arc. The first system to fire through the propeller was developed by French engineer Eugene Gilbert for Morane-Saulnier , and involved fitting strong metal "deflector wedges" to the propeller blades of a Morane-Saulnier L monoplane , so that bullets fired when

600-463: The prototype, becoming its standard carrier. Another cargo variant for Federal Express, with a longer fuselage and a cargo pod under the belly, was developed as the 208B Super Cargomaster and flew for the first time in 1986. Stretched by 4 ft (1.2 m), it received its FAA type certification also in 1986. A passenger model, the 208B Grand Caravan, was derived from the Super Cargomaster. It

625-690: Was first delivered in 1990. Since then, the Caravan has undergone a number of design evolutions, including upgrading the avionics in 2008 to provide a glass cockpit with the Garmin G1000 system. In January 2013 a higher-powered (867 shp from P&WC PT6A-140) version, the Grand Caravan EX, received FAA certification. In August 2016, Textron announced that it would move the Cessna 208 production line from its Wichita headquarters to its Independence, Kansas , production facility, for manufacture alongside along

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