Textron Aviation announced that the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted type certification for the new Cessna SkyCourier.
The aircraft is a utility twin-engine turboprop, the first unit will soon enter the market with launch customer FedEx Express, with no official date of entry stated.
“Achieving FAA certification for the Cessna SkyCourier demonstrates the expertise and hard work of our employees, as well as Textron Aviation’s continued investment in providing solutions to our customers,” said Ron Draper, president, and CEO of Textron Aviation.
“We expect the SkyCourier to be a fleet workhorse for FedEx and many other customers around the world for decades to come,” concludes Ron Draper.
Three SkyCouriers accumulated more than 2100 hours throughout the flight test program, which formally began with a maiden flight in May 2020. The company launched the first production unit of the SkyCourier earlier this year at the company’s Wichita manufacturing facility.
FedEx Express is the launch customer by agreeing to an initial order for 50 cargo aircraft and options for 50 more. The first batch of SkyCouriers was scheduled to arrive in mid-2020, but due to the pandemic, the delivery date has been postponed.
Cessna SkyCourier is a twin-engine turboprop capable of carrying three LD3 shipping containers. Its maximum payload is 2722 kilograms (6000 lb), it has a 7 ft by 5 ft (2.20 m by 1.75 m) cargo door. The aircraft can also be converted to a passenger aircraft with a 19-seat design and a maximum range of 900 nautical miles (1,667 kilometers).
The aircraft has the facility to operate on runways over 700 meters long and fly at an altitude of 25,000ft (7,620 meters) at a speed of 389 km/h, this thanks to its Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65SC engine.
