Cessna 401
Piston twin engine • Low Wing • Retractable gear
Range Visualization
• nm at current load
• click map to move • two fingers to move map
Payload vs. Range
Configure weights
Default: 190 lbs
Default: 30 lbs
Fuel on board
Extra weight
Range
Mission Profile
- • High-Performance
- • Complex
- • High-Altitude
- • Multi-Engine
About the Cessna 401
Overview
The Cessna 401 is the executive-configured member of Cessna’s 400-series light cabin twin, built from 1966 to 1972 on FAA type certificate A7CE. It shares its airframe, systems, and turbocharged Continental TSIO-520-E engines with the Cessna 402; the two differ mainly in cabin fit-out, the 401 sold as a six-to-eight-seat corporate transport and the 402 as a utility and commuter hauler. Unpressurised and avgas-fuelled, it offered cabin-class room and twin-engine capability below the price of the pressurised 340 and 414. Cessna folded the 401 into the continuing 402 line after 1972, so the type is a finite, out-of-production fleet today.
Key Features for GA Buyers
- Cabin-class room without the pressurisation bill. A flat-floor six-to-eight-seat cabin and an airstair door give the 401 a corporate-transport feel at a lower acquisition and maintenance cost than the pressurised cabin twins on the same airframe lineage.
- Turbocharged altitude capability. Two turbocharged Continental TSIO-520-E engines hold power into the teens, useful for terrain and weather, with oxygen aboard.
- Shared 402 support base. Because the 401 and 402 share the airframe and engines, parts, shop knowledge, and type expertise draw on the much larger 402 fleet.
Trade-offs
- Wing-spar AD. Like the rest of the Cessna 400-series twins, the 401 is subject to the recurring wing-spar inspection airworthiness directive; documented compliance history is the first pre-purchase item.
- Unpressurised at altitude. The cabin is not pressurised, so the altitudes where the turbocharged engines are most efficient require supplemental oxygen for everyone aboard.
- Turbocharged maintenance, finite fleet. Two turbocharged engines, their exhaust and turbo systems, and a short five-year production run mean disciplined upkeep and a thinner parts sub-market than the long-lived 402.
See Also
- Cessna 402 – the utility and commuter sibling on the identical A7CE airframe; the volume model of the pair. Compare
- Cessna 340 – the pressurised cabin-class step up for owners who want a sea-level cabin in the flight levels. Compare
- Cessna 310 – the lighter six-seat Cessna twin one rung below the 400-series. Compare
Technical Specifications
Dimensions & Weights
- Height
- Length
- Parking area (ft2)
- Max Takeoff Weight
- Max Landing Weight
- Fuel Capacity
Performance
- Cruise Speed
- Never-Exceed (Vne)
- Max Structural Cruise (Vno)
- Approach Speed
- Stall, Clean (Vs1)
- Service Ceiling
Sources
Where the figures on this page come from. Cessna 401 specifications are traced to published references; estimated values are flagged inline next to the figure.
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