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, 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.

Variants

Civilian Aircraft

208 Caravan: 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 Grand Caravan: Officially named the 208B Caravan but marketed as the Grand Caravan. The 208B is 4 ft (1.2 m) 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.

208B Grand Caravan EX: Marketing name for upgraded version of the 208B Caravan certified in December 2012, with a more powerful 867 hp (647 kW) 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. In early October 2019, after just under six years in production, the company had delivered 500 Grand Caravan EXs.

208B Super Cargomaster: Marketing name for the cargo variant of the 208B series. FedEx purchased 260 of this variant

Military Aircraft

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U-27A: United States Department of Defense designation for the Cessna 208.

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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.

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C-98: Brazilian Air Force designation for the standard U-27.

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AC-208 Combat Caravan: Caravan with wing hardpoints used by the Iraqi Air Force and 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.

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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.

General characteristics

• Crew: one or two
• Capacity: nine passengers or 13 with FAR Part 23 waiver
• Length: 37 ft 7 in (11.46 m)
• Wingspan: 52 ft 1 in (15.87 m)
• Height: 14 ft 11 in (4.53 m)
• Wing area: 279 sq ft
• Aspect ratio: 9.702
• Airfoil: wing root: NACA 23017.424, wing tip: NACA 23012
• Empty weight: 4,730 lb (2,145 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 8,000 lb (3,629 kg)
• Fuel capacity: 2,224 lb (1,009 kg) / 332 US gal (1,257 L)
• Cabin height: 54 in (1.37 m)
• Cabin width: 64 in (1.63 m)
• Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A turboprop, 675 shp (503 kW)
• Propellers: 3-bladed McCauley constant speed, full feathering, reversible pitch

Performance

• Cruise speed: 186 kn (214 mph, 344 km/h) true air speed
• Stall speed: 61 kn (70 mph, 113 km/h) calibrated air speed
• Range: 1,070 nmi (1,230 mi, 1,980 km)
• Service ceiling: 25,000 ft (7,600 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,234 ft/min (6.27 m/s)
• Wing loading: 28.674 lb/sq ft (140.00 kg/m²)

SOURCE:  Wikipedia