Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II

F406 Caravan II
A Caravan II of the French Army
Role Twin-engined utility
National origin France/United States
Manufacturer Reims Aviation
First flight 22 September 1983
Status In service, production to recommence
Primary users French Army
Republic of Korea Navy
Produced 1983–2013
Number built 99[lower-alpha 1][1]
Developed from Cessna 404 Titan
A Cessna F406 of Air-taxi Europe
An F406 of the Hellenic Coast Guard
A F406 Surmar of Namibian Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources at Paris Air Show in 2007

The Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II is a turboprop twin engine utility aircraft manufactured and designed by Reims Aviation in cooperation with Cessna.

Design and development

The F406 Caravan II is a twin turboprop engined, fourteen-seat low-wing monoplane of conventional aluminium and steel construction. It is a development of the Cessna 404 Titan with two Pratt & Whitney PT6 turboprop engines. The aircraft first flew on 22 September 1983,[2] and was produced by Reims Aviation until the company's 2013 demise.[3] In 2014, aircraft engine manufacturer Continental Motors, Inc., American subsidiary of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, partnered with French-based marketer ASI Innovation to purchase rights to the F406; Continental Motors intends to restart production, including a diesel piston engine variant, with marketing to be carried out by ASI.[4][5]

The F406 is aimed at passenger and small cargo transport, and civilian and military surveillance. For extra cargo capacity a cargo pod can be fitted to the belly of the aircraft. The Surmar is a new maritime surveillance version of the aircraft with extra equipment such as a 360 degree radar.

Though the F406 is more expensive to operate than single-engine aircraft of the same passenger capacity such as the Cessna 208 Caravan, having two engines makes it comply with European regulations regarding commercial operations, which only allow multi-engine aircraft for commercial instrument flight.

In 2014 the Type Certificate was transferred to ASI Aviation although it noted the organisation only had approval to produce spare parts and not the whole aircraft.[1]

Operators

Australia
France
Greece
Mali
Namibia
Republic of Korea
United Kingdom

Specifications

Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988–89 [10]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

References and notes

  1. ↑ One prototype and 98 production aircraft
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 EASA Type-Certificate Data Sheet EASA.A109
  2. ↑ Taylor 1988, p. 79.
  3. ↑ "GECI Aviation". Retrieved 9 June 2012. Archived March 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Pope, Stephen (March 28, 2014). "Continental To Build Former Cessna Cabin Class Twin: Engine maker buys type certificate". Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  5. ↑ "Cessna Twin Returns to production in France". AOPA pilot: 36. June 2014.
  6. ↑ Cobham Receives AUD$ 7 million Additional Contract Extension from Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, article retrieved 23 July 2013.
  7. ↑ "Airscene: Military Affairs: First Hellenic Coast Guard F406 enters service". Air International, Vol. 60, No. 5, May 2001. p. 262. ISSN 0306-5634
  8. ↑ Hoyle Flight International 8–14 December 2015, p. 43.
  9. ↑ "Airscene: Military affairs". Air International, Vol. 56, No. 1, January 1999. p. 3.
  10. ↑ Taylor 1988, p.80.
  11. ↑ Indicated Air Speed.
  12. ↑ Max cruise, 45 min reserves
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