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Cessna 208 Caravan
	A 2004 Cessna 208B
Role	Turboprop
Manufacturer	Cessna
First flight	8 August 1982
Introduced	1984
Primary user	FedEx Feeder (253)
Number built	1,500+
Unit cost	$1.5 million to $2.2 million USD
Variants	Soloy Pathfinder 21

The Cessna 208 Caravan, is a single turboprop engine, fixed-gear short-haul regional airliner and utility aircraft built in the USA by Cessna. The airplane typically seats nine passengers, with a single person crew, although with a FAR Part 23 waiver, it can seat up to fourteen passengers. The aircraft is also used for cargo feederliner operations.

[edit] Design and development

The prototype first flew in December 1982 for two years of certification and testing. The production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984. Since then, the Caravan has undergone a number of design evolutions. Working with FedEx, Cessna produced first the Cargomaster, and followed that with the stretched and upgraded Super Cargomaster. The passenger model, the Grand Caravan, was derived from the Super Cargomaster.

Cessna 208B Grand Caravan factory demonstrator, with under-belly baggage locker, bearing the Cessna Caravan motto "Sure Thing"

Cessna offers the 208B in many configurations. The basic 208 airframe can be outfitted with various types of landing gear, allowing it to operate in a wide variety of environments. Some common adaptations include skis, enlarged tires for unprepared runways, and floats on the Caravan Amphibian model.

In the cabin, the Caravan can be outfitted with seats or cargo holds. The standard high-density airline configuration features 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.^[1] The cabin can also 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. Many variants include an under-belly 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.^{[citation needed]}

On April 28, 2008, Cessna announced that the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit will be standard equipment on all new Caravans.^[2]

[edit] Variants

[edit] Civilian

2004 model Cessna 208B Grand Caravan

208A Caravan I The basic introductory model, outfitted for passenger operation.*
208A Caravan 675 The current production model of the basic Caravan, with higher-powered PT6A-114A engine.
208A Cargomaster Developed with FedEx, a pure cargo version of the Caravan. Fedex took delivery of 40 of these aircraft.
208B Grand Caravan A stretch of the Caravan I by 4 feet (1.2 m). The 208B also features a more powerful PT6A-114A engine.
208B Super Cargomaster The cargo variant of the 208B series. FedEx took delivery of 260 of these.
Caravan Amphibian A 208A Caravan with Wipaire 8000 floats in place of the landing gear, for water landings. Amphibious versions of the floats are available to permit land operations.
Soloy Pathfinder 21 A twin engine stretch of the 208 developed by the Soloy Corporation. This aircraft features two PT6D-114A engines driving a single propeller, and a 70-inch (1,800 mm) stretch behind the wing.^[3]

[edit] Military

An RCMP Caravan on amphibious floats.

U-27A A military offering of the 208A.
C-98 The Brazilian Air Force designation for the standard U-27.
C-16 The proposed United States Army designation for an armed version of the U-27 that was intended to be used in Central America for counter guerrilla/insurgency warfare. However this aircraft was rejected due to the aircraft's vulnerability to ground fire.^{[citation needed]}
AC-208 "Combat Caravan" ISR version armed with hellfire missiles currently being marketed to the Lebanese and Iraqi air forces.^[4]^[5]