208 Caravan

The Cessna 208 Caravan is a single-engine turboprop utility aircraft built by Cessna in the United States. Deliveries began in 1985, and the type is used for cargo, commuter airline, VIP transport, flight training, skydiving and humanitarian work, as well as in armed and ISTAR configurations under military designations. By March 2022, 3,000 had been delivered and the fleet had logged 24 million flight hours.

Development

Cessna approved the project on 20 November 1981 at its Pawnee engineering facility, where chief engineer John Berwick conceived a single-engine, high-wing design with a large payload. The prototype first flew on 9 December 1982 and the production model was certified by the FAA in October 1984. Amphibious floats were approved in 1985. A windowless freighter, the 208A Cargomaster, was developed at the request of Federal Express, which had previously considered a twin-piston design with Piper. The stretched 208B Super Cargomaster, 4 ft (1.2 m) longer, first flew in 1986 and was certified the same year; the passenger 208B Grand Caravan derived from it was first delivered in 1990. Garmin G1000 avionics were introduced in 2008, and the 867 shp PT6A-140-powered Grand Caravan EX was certified in January 2013. In May 2012 Cessna announced final assembly by CAIGA at Shijiazhuang for the Chinese market, with the first Chinese-assembled aircraft delivered in December 2013 and about 30 completed by April 2016. Textron moved production from Wichita to Independence, Kansas, in 2016. Unit cost in 2023 was US$2.32 million for the 208 and US$2.61 million for the 208B Grand Caravan EX.

Design

The 208 is a high-wing braced cabin monoplane with an unpressurised cabin and a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop in tractor configuration, driving a three-bladed McCauley constant-speed, full-feathering, reversible-pitch propeller. Four doors are fitted: one per crew member, an airstair door on the right and a cargo door on the left. Landing gear is fixed tricycle, with float, amphibious and ski options. Standard seating is nine passengers with one pilot, up to 13 or 14 under a FAR Part 23 waiver, and an underslung cargo pod can be fitted. The 208 has a maximum take-off weight of 8,000 lb (3,629 kg), a cruise speed of 186 kn and a range of 1,070 nmi. Avionics are the Garmin G1000 with GFC700 automatic flight control system.

Armament

The AC-208 Combat Caravan adds wing hardpoints, with the ATK ISTAR version armed with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. The MC-208 Guardian combines surveillance, close air support and precision strike without reconfiguration between roles.

Operational History

The AC-208 entered combat in January 2014 when the Iraqi Air Force used it against insurgents in Anbar province; one aircraft was lost in March 2016. Between 2009 and 2019 Northrop Grumman delivered two AC-208Bs and one RC-208B to the Lebanese Air Force, with further Foreign Military Sales deliveries planned to Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso. A total of 123 Cessna 208s were in military transport service in 2024. FedEx operates 239 aircraft and purchased 260 Super Cargomasters. As of February 2025 there had been 277 hull losses, including 271 accidents causing 516 fatalities and eight hijackings.

Variants

• 208 Caravan: First production variant with a PT6A-114 engine and up to nine seats, type approved 23 October 1984.
• 208A Cargomaster: Pure-cargo version developed with Federal Express; 40 built, all serialised as 208 models.
• 208B Grand Caravan: Fuselage stretched by 4 ft with a PT6A-114A, certified as a cargo aircraft in October 1986 and as an 11-seat passenger aircraft in December 1989.
• 208B Grand Caravan EX: 867 hp PT6A-140 version certified December 2012; 500 delivered by October 2019.
• AC-208 Combat Caravan: Armed ISTAR conversion with wing hardpoints and Hellfire missiles, operated by Iraq and Lebanon.