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2026-11-01T20:40:40Z

New aircraft page: history, US registrations (FAA), specifications, photos, sources

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{{Aircraft infobox
| name = Cessna 208 Caravan
| image = Iraqi Air Force Cessna 208 Caravan training mission.jpg
| caption = Cessna 208 Caravan. Photo: Lt. Col. Scott Voskovitch, Public domain, via [[commons:File:Iraqi Air Force Cessna 208 Caravan training mission.jpg|Wikimedia Commons]]
| make = Cessna
| type = Regional airliner, utility aircraft
| origin = United States
| first_flight = December 9, 1982
| produced = 1982–present
| status = In service
| number_built = 3,000 (2022)
| faa_registered = 980 (FAA register, October 30, 2026)
| seats = 1 or 2, 9 passengers (13 with FAR Part 23 waiver)
| engine = Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A, 675 shp
| cruise = 186 kn (208 Caravan)
| range = 1,070 nmi (208 Caravan)
| ceiling = 25,000 ft (208 Caravan)
| gross_weight = 8,000 lb (208 Caravan)
| category = Turboprops
}}

The '''Cessna 208 Caravan''' is a single-engine turboprop utility airplane built by Cessna. It has a strut-braced high wing, usually seats nine passengers in an unpressurized cabin, uses one Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A turboprop, and lands on fixed tricycle gear, floats or skis. By 2022 Cessna had delivered 3,000 Caravans, which had flown 24 million hours on flight training, commuter airlines, VIP flights, cargo, skydiving and humanitarian missions.<ref name="wp"/> In the U.S. there are 980 with a valid registration, 821 of them the stretched 208B.<ref name="faa"/>

== History ==
Cessna approved the project on November 20, 1981, at its Pawnee engineering facility. Chief engineer John Berwick conceived a single-engine, high-wing airplane with a large payload. The prototype first flew on December 9, 1982, the FAA certified the production model in October 1984, and deliveries began in 1985, the same year amphibious floats were approved.<ref name="wp"/>

The freight-only Cargomaster was developed for FedEx. The 208B Super Cargomaster, 4 feet longer, first flew in 1986 and was developed into the passenger 208B Grand Caravan.<ref name="wp"/>

== Design ==
The cabin seats nine passengers and two crew, with four doors: one for each pilot, an airstair door on the right and a cargo door on the left. An underslung cargo pod is optional, and the landing gear can be swapped for floats or skis to work almost anywhere.<ref name="wp"/>

== Registered in the United States ==
The FAA register lists '''980''' of these airplanes with a valid U.S. registration. Here they are by the model name the FAA uses.<ref name="faa"/>
<div class="aw-wide">
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! FAA model name !! Registered
|-
| 208B || 821
|-
| 208 || 158
|-
| 208A || 1
|}
</div>

== Specifications (208 Caravan) ==
<div class="aw-wide">
{| class="wikitable"
! Item !! 208 Caravan
|-
| Crew || 1 or 2
|-
| Passengers / capacity || 9 passengers (13 with FAR Part 23 waiver)
|-
| Length || 37 ft 7 in
|-
| Wingspan || 52 ft 1 in
|-
| Height || 14 ft 11 in
|-
| Wing area || 279 sq ft
|-
| Empty weight || 4,730 lb
|-
| Maximum takeoff weight || 8,000 lb
|-
| Fuel || 2,224 lb (1,009 kg) / 332 US gal (1,257 L)
|-
| Engine || Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A, 675 shp (turboprop)
|-
| Propeller || McCauley constant speed, full feathering, reversible pitch
|-
| Cruise speed || 186 kn
|-
| Stall speed || 61 kn
|-
| Range || 1,070 nmi
|-
| Service ceiling || 25,000 ft
|-
| Rate of climb || 1,234 ft/min
|}
</div>
Figures as given in the Wikipedia article and its sources.<ref name="wp"/>

{{Owner notes}}

== Photos ==
<gallery mode="packed" heights="170">
File:Cessna 208B Grand Caravan PH-PPS take off at Teuge 07March2009.jpg|Cessna 208 Caravan. Photo: AlfvanBeem, CC0
File:252aa - Aerotucán Cessna 208B Grand Caravan; XA-TDS@PXM;28.7.2003 (6160875320).jpg|Cessna 208 Caravan. Photo: Aero Icarus from Zürich, Switzerland, CC BY-SA 2.0
File:Port side all open FedEx Cessna 208 turbo Caravan (5626160425).jpg|Cessna 208 Caravan. Photo: Bill Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0
File:N187GC (10623439676).jpg|MSN 2213 CESSNA 208B ZUNI LLC GCN. Photo: Eric Salard, CC BY-SA 2.0
File:G-MDJE (9153704192).jpg|G-MDJE Cessna 208 Caravan I Loch Lomond Seaplanes starting take-off run on Loch Lomond. Photo: Mark Harkin, CC BY 2.0
File:Cessna 208B Caravan 'N876FE' FedEx (13006463414).jpg|c/n 208B-0207. Photo: Alan Wilson, CC BY-SA 2.0
File:Caravan three views.png|Cessna 208 Caravan. Photo: Marc Lacoste, CC BY-SA 4.0
</gallery>
All photos are from [[commons:Main Page|Wikimedia Commons]]; click a photo for its full credit and license.

== Buying a Cessna 208 Caravan ==
{{For sale soon}}

== Sources ==
<references>
<ref name="wp">Wikipedia, "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cessna_208_Caravan Cessna 208 Caravan]", read November 1, 2026. Airplane Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.</ref>
<ref name="faa">Federal Aviation Administration, [https://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/aircraft_certification/aircraft_registry/releasable_aircraft_download Releasable Aircraft Database], file dated October 30, 2026. Valid registrations of fixed-wing airplanes whose FAA maker and model names belong to this family. Airplane Wiki uses only counts from this file, never owner names or addresses.</ref>
</references>

Cessna 208 Caravan - Revision history

Admin: New aircraft page: history, US registrations (FAA), specifications, photos, sources