Grand Caravan Specs and Description

Background/History

When Cessna Aircraft Company announced in the early 1980’s that it was developing a new high-wing, single-engine aircraft with fixed landing gear, the news seemed designed to inspire profound disregard within the commercial and business aviation communities. Upon its introduction in 1985 however, it was immediately clear that the Caravan was a different kind of single-engine Cessna. Standing over 14 feet tall, the clean-sheet design bore only a superficial resemblance to Cessna’s ubiquitous high-wing lightplanes and, with its turbine powerplant and cavernous interior, the craft offered tremendous utility potential to small-package haulers and short-range passenger carriers. First flight of the Caravan occurred December 1982, and the FAA granted certification in October 1984. Major customer Federal Express Corporation submitted a specification for a stretched version with an additional 100cu.ft of cargo space and a 500lb. payload increase. The result was the CE-208B Grand Caravan which received FAA certification in October 1986 and continues in production today with 1,295 aircraft delivered through 2007.

Power

The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A turboprop engine producing 675shp at ISA +27C. and driving a three-bladed Hartzell constant-speed, reversible, full-feathering composite propeller. Inspection interval on the engine is 3,500 hours.

Avionics

The standard avionics package for the Grand Caravan includes Cessna’s 300-series ARC radios with nav/comm, ADF, and transponder. A variety of radios are offered as options, including King Silver Crown avionics in addition to 300- and 400-series ARC equipment. Also available are King flight control systems and the King KWX 56 color weather radar.

Design Features

The Grand Caravan is a short-to-medium-range, single-engine turboprop utility aircraft. It is configured as a strut-braced high-wing monoplane of aluminum monocoque construction with a conventional tail and fixed tricycle landing gear. A large port side cargo door provides for easy loading of passengers and freight. A smaller port side crew door allows access to the cockpit. The large 52ft wing has slotted Fowler flaps and incorporates spoilers mounted just inboard of the ailerons to assist with roll control. In the interest of systems redundancy, Cessna has included an emergency power lever to the left of the power quadrant. This emergency lever provides a mechanical link to the engine fuel controller in addition to the usual pneumatic link of the normal power lever. The 28-volt electrical system is arranged as a two-bus system allowing some measure of routing redundancy. The Grand Caravan incorporates a 4-ft. stretch of the Caravan I fuselage and a 750 lb. increase in maximum takeoff weight.

Accomodations

The CE-208B Grand Caravan has the capacity to carry up to 14 occupants, but FAA certification limits the number to 9 passengers in addition to the pilot. With the seats removed, the Grand Caravan has a cargo capacity of 340 cu. ft. An external cargo pod beneath the fuselage is available as an option, increasing cargo volume by 111 cu. ft. to a total of 451cu. ft. A dedicated cargo version of the Grand Caravan, dubbed the Super Cargomaster, also includes the external cargo pod but has no windows aft of the flight deck. In addition to the port-side large cargo door, an airstair type passenger door is located on the aft starboard side of the 208B’s fuselage.