Should December be Caravan Month?

The month of December is a significant month in aviation history. On December 17th, 110 years ago, the Wright Flyer became the first heavier than air powered machine to achieve controlled sustained flight at Kitty Hawk North Carolina. On the 5th day in December 1879 Clyde Cessna was born in Iowa.   

The very first Cessna Caravan flying over Wichita, Kansas

In December the first around the world flight without refueling was piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager onboard "Voyager". A mostly plastic aircraft, propelled by push and pull propellers. They departed Edwards Air Force Base and after 216 hours and 24,986 miles they landed back where they began.  

For all of our Cessna C208 fans, don't forget that the first Caravan prototype, tail number N208LP (pictured below) first flew on December 9th 1982!

~ CaravanNation.com

Molokai C208B Grand Caravan Crash

A C208B Grand Caravan crashed 1/2 mile off of the north shore of the island of Molokai after experiencing a catastophic engine failure shortly after take off.  An extremely rare event for one of the worlds most reliable turbine engines ever, the Pratt and Whitney PT6.  

The pilot and 8 passengers survived.  Sadly one passenger did die in the accident.  She was the Director of Hawaii's State Health Department.

Below is a picture of the exact airplane that crashed.

Seair Pacific Caravans at Hervey Bay Airport Australia

A couple of Seair Pacific Caravans on the ramp at Hervey Bay Airport Australia with a beautiful sunset. 

Seair Pacific was founded in 1985, they are a charter air service company and keep a hub at Gold Coast Airport and fly to 7 destinations including: Redcliffe, Bundaberg Airport, Rockhampton, Maroochydore, Hervey Bay Airport and Lady Elliot Island.  

They offer charter services in Queensland with a fleet of 5 Caravans, 2 Islanders, 1 Beech King Air, 1 Piper Seneca and 1 Cessna 210. Find out more about this company at seairpacific.com.au 

Photo by Nathan Turner