The 3,000th Cessna Caravan Delivered!

WICHITA, Kan. (January 13, 2023) – Textron Aviation today announced it has delivered a Cessna Grand Caravan EX to Brazilian aviation company Azul Conecta, a subsidiary of Azul Airlines based at the airport of Jundiai in São Paulo. This aircraft represents the 3,000th Cessna Caravan family turboprop delivered worldwide, reinforcing the Caravan as the most popular utility turboprop in the world. Azul Conecta transports travelers from smaller cities and remote locations throughout Brazil.

Textron Aviation delivers 3,000th Cessna Caravan family aircraft

The Cessna Caravan and Cessna Grand Caravan EX are designed and manufactured by Textron Aviation Inc., a Textron Inc. (NYSE:TXT) company.

Textron Aviation employees and representatives from Azul Conecta celebrated this significant milestone with a special delivery ceremony at Textron Aviation’s location in Independence, Kansas.

“The Cessna Caravan’s versatility and reliability have made it the most popular aircraft in the utility turboprop category, with now 3,000 delivered globally,” said Lannie O’Bannion, senior vice president of Sales and Flight Operations at Textron Aviation. “I’m thankful to customers like Azul Conecta who continuously rely on the Caravan family of aircraft to fulfill their missions, deliver solutions and improve lives around the world.”

Conceived as a rugged utility aircraft with low operating costs, the Caravan was designed for use in remote areas with extreme weather changes, mountainous terrain and rough landing conditions. The aircraft’s versatility became renowned in all corners of the world, and the Caravan continues to see wide use in global markets by a variety of customers, including government agencies, law enforcement and militaries, air ambulance operators, freight haulers, corporations and humanitarian organizations.

“This Grand Caravan EX will proudly fly the Brazilian skies and connect our 158 destinations, many of which are made possible by the aircraft’s utility and flexibility,” said Flavio Costa, chief technical officer of Azul and president of Azul Conecta. “As a longtime Textron Aviation customer with a fleet of over 25 Cessna aircraft, we are happy to be a part of this important milestone.”

Customers can choose between four models of the Cessna Caravan aircraft to best fit their mission: the Caravan 208, the Grand Caravan EX 208B, the Caravan Amphibian and the Grand Caravan EX Amphibian.

Cessna Caravan program milestones

• 1981    Cessna launched the Caravan program

• 1982    First flight of Caravan 208 prototype

• 1984    Caravan 208 received FAA type certification

• 1985    Cessna began deliveries of the Caravan 208

• 1985    Caravan 208 approved for amphibious floats

• 1986    Caravan 208B Super Cargomaster, stretched by four feet in a freight specific configuration, received FAA type certification

• 1990    First production Grand Caravan 208B delivered

• 1998    Delivery of 1,000th production Caravan 208

• 1998    Cessna began deliveries of the new standard Caravan 208, a Caravan 208 that features a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A engine rated at 675 shaft horsepower

• 2002    Delivery of 1,000th Grand Caravan 208B

• 2005    Delivery of 1,500th production Cessna 208

• 2008    Garmin G1000 becomes standard avionics equipment

• 2008    TKS ice protection offered
• 2010    2,000th Caravan delivered to DHL partner Air St. Kitts-Nevis

• 2013    Cessna began deliveries of Grand Caravan EX 208B, featuring a Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-140 engine rated at 867 shaft horsepower

• 2017   G1000 NXi becomes standard on Caravan and Grand Caravan EX 

• 2022    3,000th Caravan, a Grand Caravan EX, delivered to Azul Conecta

 

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Textron Aviation employees at the Independence, Kansas, facility, celebrate the 3,000th Cessna Caravan.

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Azul Conecta takes delivery of the 3,000th Cessna Caravan.

CaravanNation.com

Wishing the Nation a Wonderful and Safe 2019!

This past year was a great one for us here at Caravan Nation and we are very excited about the changes and upgrades that we will be making to the site in 2019! The site was updated once this year and is in the process again in a couple weeks, making it more mobile device friendly. 

We received an endorsement from Textron Aviation and approval to publish their Cessna Caravan articles and stories. We surpassed 100K followers on Social Media. Our new Service and Parts page will be up within 2 weeks with the page sponsor being Western Aircraft. Visit them for all of your Caravan parts needs. 

Please email us if there is anything that you would like to see added to the site.

Thank you ALL for choosing us as your go to site for ALL THINGS CARAVAN! Let's have a wonderful and safe 2019!


CaravanNation.com

Barter - Your transition from Piston to Turbine Aircraft

Below is my answer to an email that I received from a Jump Pilot that is looking to transition from a piston to a turbine powered aircraft. After writing it, I felt that I should post it because I thought that it might help other pilots. It is an answer to a question that I get frequently.

Hi David,

Thank you for the compliment. I had people help me while I was learning to fly, so I'm just trying to pay it forward.

As far as your situation, keep in mind that all pilots get caught in that dilemma of: How to get hired into a turbine or twin when I don't have any turbine or twin time and yet ALL of the companies are asking for at least "25hrs in type" (a number dictated by the insurance companies).

For me personally, when I was looking to transition to the Caravan and was getting frustrated with the above mentioned dilemma, an idea came to me. 

I had recently read an ad for a drop zone that was looking to hire a Caravan pilot. That particular DZ also owned a Cessna 206, a model that I had a few hundred hours of experience flying skydivers in. So I called the owner of the DZ and ran my idea by him hoping that he would agree. I asked him if he would agree to train me to fly his Caravan in exchange for me flying his C206 for his skydiving company for 1 month. 

He agreed, trained me and actually only made me fly 3 weeks instead of 4. Also, that company smartly maximizes the use of their Caravan via scheduling so I ended up only having to fly the C206 about twenty or so loads.

I have friends that have been hired by DZs that own a piston and a turbine and they received paid training in their turbines. Obviously, that is the best type of situation to get into, but it is not always practical for all of us. 

I am still very happy with my bartering idea to get trained in a larger aircraft and I always recommend it to Jump Pilots that are looking to transition. Although it is a proposition that is more easily accomplished in the Jump Pilot world, I have heard of pilots in other industries using that method. 

As far as the Flight Safety route, I would not encourage a Jump Pilot that is looking to transition from a piston to a Caravan to pay that $4000 fee. Most of the pilots that utilize those programs are not paying for it with their own money. The companies that hired them are paying for it. Flight Safety is a first class company with great programs but their fees are usually too steep for the average piston Jump Pilot.

I hope that I answered your questions but if you have any more, please feel free to ask! I love helping my fellow pilots.

~Chris Rosenfelt

CaravanPilot.com

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