Cessna 208 Caravan

Super Cargomaster with cargo pod. The Cargomaster and Super Cargomaster variants are built without cabin windows. On November 20, 1981, the project was given 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 production model was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in October 1984. 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. It was first delivered in 1990. 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 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. Chinese production 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 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. == Design ==

The Cessna 208 is a high-wing braced cabin monoplane powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop in tractor configuration. The cabin has room for nine passengers and two crew when used as 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 cabin can be configured in a low density passenger configuration, with 1-1 seating, as a combination of passengers and cargo, or as a strictly cargo aircraft. The airplane typically seats nine passengers with 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. == Variants ==

Civilian ; :First production variant with a PT6A-114 turboprop engine and seating for up to nine passengers. The landplane variant was type approved on October 23, 1984, and the seaplane version with Wipline Model 8000 Amphibious/Seaplane Floats was type approved on March 26, 1986. Early aircraft can be modified to use the higher-powered PT6A-114A but have restricted operating limits. :*208 Caravan 675 ::Marketing designation for the 208 Caravan with a higher-powered PT6A-114A engine. 208B Super Cargomaster ;208A Cargomaster :A pure-cargo version of the Caravan developed with Federal Express (now FedEx); 40 aircraft produced. All 208A aircraft were serialized as 208 models. door open. The 208B Grand Caravan is longer than the 208, and the passenger-carrying version has eight side windows instead of the 208's six. ; :Officially named the 208B Caravan but marketed as the Grand Caravan. The 208B is longer than the 208; extending the cabin by the same amount. The 208B has a PT6A-114A engine. It was originally certified as a two-seater cargo version on October 9, 1986, and as an 11-seater passenger aircraft on December 13, 1989. :*'''''' ::Marketing name for upgraded version of the 208B Caravan certified in December 2012, with a more powerful Pratt and Whitney Canada PT6A-140 that improves the rate of climb by 38% and was developed by Pratt & Whitney Canada specifically to power the 208B. The unladen weight is more but maximum payload is only more. While the more powerful PT6A-140 gives a higher cruise speed – and rate of climb is improved by , range is reduced to on a similar fuel capacity. It requires a longer take off run at and its landing roll is at . In early October 2019, after just under six years in production, the company had delivered 500 Grand Caravan EXs. :*'''''' ::Marketing name for the cargo variant of the 208B series. FedEx purchased 260 of this variant. in Scotland ;Caravan Amphibian :A 208 or 208B with either Wipaire 8000 or 8750 floats that have retractable landing gear, for water landings or land operations. Aftermarket variants Production aircraft modified after delivery by Supplemental Type Certificates: ;Soloy Pathfinder 21 :Single example of a twin-engined stretched fuselage development of the 208 by the Soloy Corporation. Two PT6D-114A engines mounted side-by-side drove a single propeller; and the fuselage was extended by behind the wing. The project was abandoned as the design was unable to meet certification requirements. ;850 Caravan :208 with an Honeywell TPE331-12JR-701S engine, installed by Aero Twin Inc. ;950 Grand Caravan :208B with a Honeywell TPE331-12JR-704AT engine, installed by Aero Twin Inc. ;Supervan 900 :208B with a ( flat-rated) Honeywell TPE331-12JR engine, installed by Texas Turbine Conversions, Inc. ;XP42A Upgrade :208B with an Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-42A engine, installed by Blackhawk Experimental The eCaravan is an electric aircraft modification of the 208B built by AeroTEC and magniX powered by a motor and a , 750 V lithium-ion battery. Military Cessna 208B launches a Hellfire missile ;U-27A :United States Department of Defense designation for the Cessna 208. ;C-16 :United States Department of Defense designation for proposed variant to be used by the United States Army in El Salvador and Nicaragua during the 1980s. ;C-98 :Brazilian Air Force designation for the standard U-27. ;AC-208 Combat Caravan :Caravan with wing hardpoints. An ISTAR version built by ATK armed with Hellfire missiles is used by the Iraqi Air Force. The AC-208 received its combat debut in January 2014 when the Iraqi Air Force began employing it against insurgents in Anbar province. One aircraft crashed in March 2016. :The Lebanese Air Force requested a new AC-208 and the conversion of the 208 it already operated. Between 2009 and 2019, Northrop Grumman delivered two AC-208Bs and one RC-208B (an ISTAR variant) to the Lebanese Air Force. :Other AC-208s are scheduled to be delivered to countries in the Middle East and Africa through the Foreign Military Sales program. Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso are possible recipients of these AC-208 Combat Caravans. ;MC-208 Guardian :The MC-208 Guardian multi-role aircraft is built on the Cessna Caravan, capable of performing aerial surveillance, close air support, casualty and medical evacuations, air mobility, and precision strike all in one mission without the need for reconfiguration, eliminating the need to deploy and operate multiple aircraft. It was selected as one of five finalists for the United States Special Operations Command's (USSOCOM's) Armed Overwatch program. == Operators ==

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 is also used by government agencies in law enforcement, air ambulance services, police and military. Military operators A total of 123 Cessna 208s were in military service as transport in 2024. == Accidents and incidents ==

As of February 2025, there have been 277 Caravan hull losses from all causes, including 271 accidents causing 516 fatalities – an average of fatalities per hull-loss, with 27.4% of all occupants surviving fatal accidents; and eight hijackings causing one fatality.