Cessna 408 SkyCourier
 

Looks like they bred a BE1900 with a DHC8.
Then again maybe it's a westernised LET410 :}
Textron Aviation Unveils New Large-Utility Turboprop, the Cessna SkyCourier | Business Wire
Cessna SkyCourier

Bit like a Dornier Do228

What the nomad should have been,

Anybody found a MTOW for it?

Looks like a bit of a hybrid from everything.

The question is...... expected cost?

Sounds like good speed when put next to the Viking.

Now a float option would be sweet!

Quoted price 5.5 us
Whats is interesting is the choice of engines. Seams they gone for the pt6. Had they gone for the GE it woyld have been a game changer for GE. Fedex was the reason forthe pt6 to get the single engine ifr charter certification. Had they gone with ge and proved its reliable would have give ge some extremly strong data for the same

I did think Nomad!

Options would be good.


Engine options.


Pressurised & non-pressurised.


Floats/ski's.

Why wouldn't they use a PT6? Its clear from the press release that the project is built around the FedEx order and FedEx and its associates has a long history of using PT6 powered aircraft.

The transition period of the new aircraft coming online to current PT6 operators alone would justify a common engine type.

Wunwing

So, P&W got single engine IFR certification due to the record of single engine IFR operations on the caravan with FedEx ... Taking that at face value, how would putting GE's engine on a multi-engine airplane help them gain single engine certification?

It isn't rocket science to work out reliability in a multi and calculate risk for single engine IFR applications.

Because the engines are independent of each other. Plus the bonus of ever 1 hour flyi g time you are getting 2 hours of reliable record. So in fact it can be shown in half the flight hours as againts to 208

Over 12 months ago the pt6 seris had over 550million flight hours in service.

ASEPTA approval in Australia is based on engine/airframe reliability not just the engine. Think you will find that some C-208 variants aren’t ASEPTA approved in Australia (yet), Caravan EX maybe? Other types such as the PC-6 won’t get a lookin without reliability data.

ASEA is such a joke. Just approve anything with a PT6.

Yes. You can make any caravan complaint with the mods. The aircraft is in tne consideration but ghe main thing is the thing at the front converting liquid into noise.

Weird looking props?

GE vs PW argument aside, there are some potential uses for it. Payload is on par with DHC6-400. Faster cruise but takeoff distance handicap. Pacific Islands over water uses spring to mind.

Folks,
Looks like it will be the first aircraft to be certified under the new FAR/EASA 23.
Be interesting to see if the rather radical new system will work, probably beautifully, as CASA are already saying No!

Tootle pip!!

Particularly if it's certified for 19 seats Leadie, Kiwi regs would fix all this - BUT WHAT WOULD WE KNOW?

Duck Pilot,
Exactly!
Tootle Pip!!

It is what it is, with design probably very strongly influenced by a FedEx requirement. The FedEx current and future orders would justify production.

Not the first proposal in this class of aircraft but this may be the first to actually be built. "Wizard" aka Flukey Luke was also pushing a similar type but larger aircraft some years ago, stating, with his usual impeccable honesty, that he's bought a couple of hundred off the plan! It was the Utilicraft FF-1080, twin PW150s, 20,000 kg disposable load, single pilot, which it appears never progressed beyond a wet dream. I'm not sure how they thought twin PW150s would push a 40 ton aircraft to 250 kts? :}

I suspect this aircraft will feature strongly in FedEx hub and spoke feeder operations in the USA. The PT6 is ideal for this purpose, despite the probably high cycles.

I suspect it will struggle as a commuter, for the same reason the Shorts SD3-30 and SD3-60 struggled, speed, lack of pressurization and payload/range limitations.

Same pax capacity as a Twin Otter for around 40 kts (25%) increase in speed but loss of STOL ability? Interesting the choice of a couple of 1,100 HP -65's to carry 19 pax, versus two 650 HP -34's on the DHC6-400. The Beech 1900D has similar engines, same pax capacity, pressurised but 50 kts faster.

FedEx will ultimately buy around 250 of these. They know what they're doing in the freight world.

Importantly, Cessna should make sure the aircraft can perform in ISA +20 degrees and high altitude airport capability, preferably at MTOW. That would be good!

It's what will work for FedEx. They have operations in Colorado 5,000msl and ISA+20 in summer..

A modern Bandit replacement.

Mmmm...............I wonder what its ice-carrying capacity is going to be?

Better than a Caravan I'd imagine..

Would be nice but a bit of a handicap on fuel flow for the same number of seats and not a lot of difference on book values with speed.

Uhhh, yeah, but the Bandit can't carry 3 LD3 shipping containers, which I expect, is a lot more relevant to Fed-ex and Cessna than how if compares to the Bandit as a passenger hauling machine.

Is it going to have a ramp door like the CASA 212?

The drawings I've seen show it with a large aft side door that the containers would slide into sideways then get moved forward, so, no aft ramp.

That's good. We agree that it's not a Bandit replacement then :p

I reckon they could get a few more knots out of it by streamlining the front end a little. It's pretty square and old-school looking. Looks like an EMB110 or worse.

SWTT - there was nothing wrong with an EMB-110 in it's time. Made me my retirement fund thank you.

I'm sure the nose of the 408 is exactly how they want it, despite the input from the know-alls on Pprune. After all, they have certified more designs that any other manufacturer on the planet.

Might have to do with the fact that it's designed around 3 LD3 shipping containers, which are kinda square.

There's no shipping containers in the cockpit.

Seems they pilfered the design from another well known company.

https://www.hobbywarehouse.com.au/le...rgo-plane.html

Ah, the Leggo Bristol Freighter !

Well, no, there's not. But there are shipping containers immediately behind the cockpit. If the fuselage necessarily must have a large, rectangular cross section 6 inches aft of the pilots seat, there's probably not much point in making the cockpit narrow and sleek like a Learjet.