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The Cessna 208B Grand Caravan is a single-turbo-engine, fixed-gear, utility transport aircraft and short-haul airliner for upto fourteen
passengers and one or two crew. Cessna Aircraft Company, Wichita, Kansas, USA, started development of the Cessna Model 208 by the
end of the 1970s as a single-engined turboprop aircraft for up to ten passengers or up to a ton of load. The Cessna Model 208 was
designed as a rugged utility aircraft to replace the aging De Havilland Canada Otters, Beavers and Beech 18 aircraft in use with
bush operators. Therefor the design had to include the possibillity to equip the aircraft with skis and floats for use in remote
areas with extreme weather changes, mountainous terrain and rough landing conditions. Final design work of the Cessna Model 208 started
in 1979. The prototype Model 208 (serial number 699), registered N208LP, flew first on 9 December 1982. FAA-certification for the Cessna
Model 208 Caravan I was awarded on 23 October 1984. The first Caravan was delivered on 25 February 1985, to an air service provider in Alaska,
and the next day Federal Express (now FedEx) took delivery of its first Caravan, which included a belly cargo pod and other modifications
specially designed for the express delivery pioneer. The Cessna 208A Cargomaster, was developed with FedEx as a pure-cargo version of
the Caravan. A further development with a lengthened fuselage is the Cessna 208B. The protoptype Model 208B Super Cargomaster,
registered N9767F, flew first on 3 March 1986. The 208B Super Cargomaster entered service with Federal Express in 1986. Federal Express
was the main operator of the Cessna 208 with a fleet of 39 Cessna 208A Cargomasters and over 200 Cessna 208B Super Cargomasters all-cargo variants.
These aircrafts have a large cargo door, no side windows and are fitted with additional cargo tiedown points, cargo nets and an underfuselage
cargo pannier. Fourty aircraft were built as Model 208A’s, these were subsequently all converted to Model 208’s by embodiment of a Cessna Service
Kit or out of service. The designation Model 208A was removed from the FAA TCDS at Rev 13. The Cessna Model 208B Grand Caravan was the passenger
model derived from the Super Cargomaster and was certified on 13 december 1989. Many Grand Caravan variants include an underbelly cargo pod, which
can be used for additional freight capacity, or for passenger baggage. In 2012, the Cessna Grand Caravan EX with a Garmin Glass Cockpit and a 867
shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140 engine was announced. The new model keeps its 208B designation, but gives operators a great deal
more power, thanks to the expressly for the EX developed Pratt & Whitney PT6-140 turboprop engine. In January 2013, after a quick certification
test program, Cessna earned FAA approval for the Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX. A number of Cessna 208 variants is converted to skydiving aircraft with
the left-side cargo hatch converted to a roll-up door. This skydiving platform makes its possible to bring up to 20 parachutists to the jump height.
The military variants of the Cessna Model 208 uses the designations U-27A; C-16 and Cessna AC-208 Combat Caravan. In 1985, Cessna Aircraft Company
ceased to be an independent company. It was purchased by General Dynamics Corporation and became a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1992, General Dynamics
sold Cessna to Textron Inc. and on 29 July 2015, the company name changed to Textron Aviation Inc., Wichita, Kansas. Building of the Cessna 208
started in Wichita. In May 2012, Cessna announced that an assembly line for the 208 by a Cessna-AVIC joint venture would be established in Shijiazhuang
in the People's Republic of China. In August 2016, Textron announced that it is moving the Cessna 208 production from its Wichita headquarters to its
Independence, Kansas production facility. Over 2.500 Cessna 208 aircraft in the diverent variations have been delivered since the Cessna 208 entered
service in 1985.
The ICAO Aircraft Type Designator for the Cessna 208 is C208. |
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On 14 November 2006, Cessna 208B Gran Caravan s/n 208B1219 was registered N9028 in the USA with Cuba Company, Monroe, LA. On 23 April 2010, the N9028 was
registered with Purdum Aviation, Oklahoma City, OK. On 24 May 2010, registration N9028 was cancelled as exported. On 2 June 2010, the Cessna 208B was
registered ZS-XXL in South-Africa with Condor Aviation Partnership. In November 2012. the ZS-XXL was registered with Avex Air. In 2021, the Cessna 208B was
sold in the Netherlands. On 20 November 2021, Cessna 208B Gran Caravan ZS-XXL arrived on at Teuge Airport in the Netherlands on delivery to Stichting Nationaal
Parachutisten Centrum Teuge. At Teuge Airfield, the Cessna 208B Gran Caravan got a complete overhaul and was converted into a skydive platform. The Pratt &
Whitney PT6A-114A turboprop engine was replaced by a Allied-Signal Aerospace TPE331-12JR turbine engine and the 3-blade prop was replaced by 5-bladed MTV-27-1
prop. Although the conversion would take until April 2022, the Cessna 208B was already registered PH-SPT on 24 December 2021 with Stichting Nationaal Parachutisten
Centrum Teuge, Teuge. Cessna 208B PH-SPT with call sign: SPoT! is one of the aircraft of the skydivers of Nationaal Paracentrum Teuge.
On 2 July 2023, Cessna
208B Supervan 900 PH-SPT was seen at Teuge Airport in service with the Nationaal Paracentrum Teuge. |
