Charter Cessna Caravan Turboprop Aircraft
Take one look at the Cessna Caravan and you know it’s a workhorse. It will transport anyone and anything just about anywhere you want it to go. The Caravan, officially known as the Cessna 208 Caravan, is a single-engine turboprop that first entered production in 1982. It’s still in production today, and more than 2,500 of them have been produced in that time. Cessna outfitted the Caravan with a strong, reliable Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 series engine that produces 675 horsepower. This rock-solid aircraft can carry 3,070 pounds of weight. And the cabin is versatile enough that the payload can be people, freight or a combination of both. Cessna Caravan’s proven safety record brings a new level of confidence to the ‘go-anywhere’ travel experience. Typical cabin configuration of the Caravan allows ample room for seven passengers to relax comfortably in its spacious cabin on charter flights from Miami to Washington D.C.
Land Anywhere
For those who need charter flights to remote locations, the Cessna Caravan is a highly recommended choice. It can be modified for takeoff and landing in a variety of terrain, including:
- Floats for water
- Skis for snow
- Larger tires for unpaved runways
From outdoorsman traveling to remote regions to hunt hard-to-reach game, to vineyard owners looking to fly in guests, this is a terrific option. Many of our clients charter Cessna Caravan turboprops because they excel in just about every utility transport segment imaginable. A lot of its success has to do with its enviable dispatch reliability, which exceeds 99 per cent. Even under challenging mission parameters, it performs admirably. FedEx quickly became one the Caravan’s biggest customers. They worked with Cessna to develop a freight-specific model known as the Cargomaster. A second evolution involved a four-foot stretch of the original. They called it the Super Cargomaster.
More of a Good Thing
Realizing an opportunity in the passenger market, Cessna took the stretched fuselage and created the Grand Caravan. As a result, it transports up to 14 passengers in total comfort. For additional storage (both for freight or personal belongings), many Caravans feature belly pods. The Caravan offers a maximum range of 1,070 nautical miles and a cruise speed of 214 mph. The Grand Caravan can manage 964 nm of nonstop flying and a slightly higher cruise speed of 224 mph. Furthermore, both have a maximum service ceiling of 25,000 feet. Despite its rugged appearance, the interior of a charter Cessna Caravan is surprisingly pleasant to ride in. In fact, it rivals that of many light jets in terms of comfort. With its low operating cost, many corporate commuters choose it for shop-hop business trips between cities. While it may not win any speed records, that’s not what the Caravan is about. It’s about utility and reliability. For example, developing nations rely on it heavily to transport both people and cargo to far-off places that other aircraft simply have no places being. Cessna has made numerous upgrades to the Caravan series over the years. One of the best improvements came in 2008 when they began outfitting them with the Garmin G1000 avionics suite. This replaced the older system, greatly enhancing usability and, as a result, air charter safety.
