Range Map

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1

Tank-dry, where fuel runs out at catalogue's stored cruise burn.

Excludes reserves: range beyond the dashed circle requires a leaner cruise than what we store. Great-circle, still air, book cruise. Estimates only: always verify against the POH.

Payload vs. Range

Occupants:

Fuel on board

Cargo

nm

Range

Cargo is additional payload after occupants and baggage.
full tanks
Available Range / nm
Mission capable. This load flies with full fuel.
Fuel reduced by . left aboard for nm range.
Over max payload by . At this load it cannot lift a single occupant.

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Mission Profile

Used market Only available used
246
KTAS
Cruise Speed
1,153
nm
Max Range
30,000
ft
Service Ceiling
14
Occupants
1,144
lbs
Wet Payload
Endorsements & ratings:
  • High-Performance
  • Complex
  • High-Altitude
  • Multi-Engine
  • Instrument
Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II G-RVLY of RVL Aviation taxiing at Gloucestershire Airport, photo by James from Cheltenham, CC BY-SA 2.0
Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II G-RVLY of RVL Aviation taxiing at Gloucestershire Airport, photo by James from Cheltenham, CC BY-SA 2.0

Estimated Ownership Costs

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About the Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II

Type certificated 1986 Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet

Overview

The Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II is an unpressurised twin-turboprop utility aircraft, built in France by Reims Aviation under licence from Cessna and certificated under FAA type certificate A25CE in 1986. It mates the fuselage and wing lineage of the piston Cessna 404 Titan to two Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-112 turboprops, producing a rugged ten-to-fourteen-seat workhorse that found its place in commuter, cargo, and maritime-surveillance roles rather than the executive market. Fewer than 100 were built across a production run that continued under ASI Aviation into the 2010s.

A note on weights for a North American buyer: the catalogue records the FAA-certificated maximum take-off weight of 9,360 lb from TCDS A25CE. Most published references cite 9,850 lb (4,468 kg), which is the European DGAC manufacturer figure; the two reflect different certification bases for the same airframe, and the FAA value is the one that governs a US-registered example.

Key Features for GA Buyers

  • Twin-turbine redundancy. Two PT6A-112 engines give the F406 a second powerplant for over-water, night, and mountainous operations, the safety case that drove much of its commuter and surveillance use.
  • Heavy useful load. With roughly 4,300 lb of useful load and 475 US gallons of usable fuel, the F406 carries a full cabin or a freight load over 1,100 nautical miles without the pressurisation systems that complicate its cabin-class cousins.
  • PT6 support. The PT6A-112 carries a 3,600-hour TBO and the deep global parts and overhaul network of the most widely fielded business turboprop, which offsets some of the type’s rarity.
  • Mission flexibility. The cabin converts between executive seating, high-density commuter benches, and a cargo floor, and many airframes carry an underbelly pod or surveillance sensors for patrol work.

Trade-offs

  • Unpressurised cabin. The F406 is comfortable in the low to middle teens; reaching its 30,000 ft ceiling requires supplemental oxygen for everyone aboard, which limits it against pressurised turboprops on long high-altitude legs.
  • Two turbines to feed and overhaul. A burn near 90 GPH and two PT6 overhauls at roughly $370,000 each put the F406’s direct operating cost above a single-engine turboprop of similar cabin size, the price of the second engine.
  • Rarity. With under 100 built and most based in Europe, finding an airframe, parts, and a shop familiar with the type is harder in North America than for a mainstream Cessna twin.

See Also

  • Cessna 404 Titan – the piston twin whose airframe the F406 is built on; the same cabin and mission without the turbine cost or the second-engine redundancy. Compare
  • Cessna 208 Caravan – the single-engine turboprop alternative, simpler and cheaper to operate, trading the F406’s second engine for one PT6. Compare
  • Cessna Conquest II – the pressurised, faster Cessna turboprop twin for buyers who need altitude and speed over utility-hauling simplicity. Compare
  • Beechcraft King Air 200 – the dominant twin-turboprop in the class, pressurised and far better supported, at a higher acquisition and operating cost. Compare

Technical Specifications

Dimensions & Weights

Wingspan 50 ft
Height
13 ft
Length
39 ft
Parking area (ft²2)
2,618 ft²
Max Takeoff Weight
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 9,360 lbs
Max Landing Weight
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 9,360 lbs
Useful Load
Source: third-party reference 4,327 lbs
Fuel Capacity
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 475 gal

Performance

Cruise Speed
Source: third-party reference 246 KTAS
Never-Exceed (VNE)
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 229 KIAS
Max Structural Cruise (VNO)
Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 229 KIAS
Approach Speed
108 KIAS
Stall, Clean (VS1)
75 KIAS
Range
1153 NM
Service Ceiling
30,000 ft
Rate of Climb
397 - 1850 fpm
Takeoff over 50 ft obstacle
2,964 ft
Landing over 50 ft obstacle
2,485 ft

Engines

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Sources

Where the figures on this page come from. Reims-Cessna F406 Caravan II specifications are traced to published references; estimated values are flagged inline next to the figure.

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