C208 Caravan / C208B Grand Caravan
The turbine-powered 208 Caravan and its stretched variant the 208B Grand-Caravan allow large payloads to be carried over great distances
The Cessna 208 Caravan has become the backbone of MAF’s fleet and provides a great combination of range, capacity and flexibility.
The simple design and construction, along with a reliable Pratt and Whitney turbine engine which runs on Jet fuel, combine to keep maintenance time and costs to a minimum.
To suit rough airstrips, the Caravans are fitted with sturdy landing gear, larger tires, mud flaps, rubber scraper for the nose tire, and slighter longer nose gear to help prevent mud and rocks being thrown into the propeller when landing.
Right now, there is simply no other single engine aircraft in the category of a Caravan which is better suited for the work in South Sudan.
– Roland Sedlmeier, MAF pilot
Fully equipped for instrument flying, with GPS, weather radar and Stormscope, the Caravan is reliable and can still operate safely in more challenging conditions such as storms or during the rainy season.
In Mongolia for example, where ground temperatures can drop as low as -40ºC in winter, the Grand Caravan is fitted with full de-icing equipment.
Profile
The turbine-powered 208 Caravan and its stretched variant the 208B Grand Caravan allow large payloads to be carried over great distances.
Capacity
Carries up to 13 passengers (208B) and 1,150kg supplies
Performance
Cruising speed: 170 mph
Did you know?
Caravans are popular sky diving aircraft! Before you ask, it’s not something we offer…
Number in worldwide fleet
9 (208)
20 (208B)
Places in use
Angola
Chad
DR Congo
Haiti
Indonesia
Kenya
Madagascar
Mongolia
Papua New Guinea
South Sudan
Uganda
Stories featuring the 208/208B
MEDAIR mission accomplished!
In April 2018, conflict forced a large number of people to flee Rumbek North in central South Sudan. They ended up in Yirol as Internally Displaced People (IDP). Medair’s Emergency Response Team did an [...]
Cold weather protocol in Mongolia
MAF Pilot Roy Rissanen shares some fascinating insights into cold weather operations in Mongolia. Here are ten fascinating facts about flying when the temperatures plunge well below zero. The average household freezer runs at [...]
Healthcare brings hope for the Turkana
The Turkana are some of Kenya’s most isolated and disadvantaged people. An estimated 90% of this pastoralist community live below the poverty line. Serving them are a team of roughly 20 healthcare workers at [...]
When the planes are the cargo
MAF Pilots Simon Wunderli and Christiaan Haak departed on a flight that was out-of-the-ordinary even for them: a multi-day ferry flight from Moundridge, Kansas, USA to Mareeba, Australia in order to deliver the first [...]
Issa’s story
MAF assists a christian ministry that helped South Sudanese refugee Issa overcome trauma and fear. Their very name in Swahili is a faith-filled declaration: Tutapona — ‘We will be healed!’. Nearly one million refugees [...]
Ebola relief efforts continue despite temporary relocation
Ebola relief efforts continue despite temporary relocation.Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) has been transporting vaccines, medical personnel and supplies, and sanitation equipment into the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) since [...]