The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle is an American six or seven seat twin-engined light transport aircraft, developed in the 1960s by

Cessna Cessna () is an American brand of general aviation aircraft owned by Textron Aviation since 2014, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas. Originally, it was a brand of the Cessna Aircraft Company, an American general aviation aircraft manufactu ...

as a pressurized version of the earlier Cessna 411.

Development

The Cessna 421 was first produced in May 1967, the 1968 model year. It had "Stabila-Tip" fuel tanks on the wingtips (like the

Cessna 310 The Cessna 310 is an American four-to-six-seat, low-wing, twin-engine monoplane produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the second twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production; the first was the Cessna T-50. It was used by the ...

). Its electro-mechanical landing gear are similar to that of the 310. It was an immediate hit, selling 200 planes in its first year. The very next year, 1969, the design was refined, with a three-inch stretch of the fuselage, five more gallons of fuel capacity, and a 40-pound increase in gross weight. The plane was redesignated the Cessna 421A. In 1971, the design was again improved. Both empty and gross weight increased, the wingspan was increased by two feet, raising the service ceiling by 5,000 feet. The nose was stretched two feet to accommodate a larger nose baggage section. This new plane is designated the Cessna 421B. In 1975, the plane was offered with a package of equipment enabling flight into known icing conditions. In 1976, the 421C appeared which featured wet wings, the absence of wingtip fuel tanks and landing gear that was changed from straight-leg to a trailing-link design from the 1981 model year onwards. Production ended in 1985 after 1,901 aircraft had been delivered. The 421 was first certified on 1 May 1967 and shares a common

type certificate A type certificate signifies the airworthiness of a particular category of aircraft, according to its manufacturing design (''type design''). Certification confirms that the aircraft of a new type intended for serial production is in compliance w ...

with models 401, 402, 411, 414 and 425. Some 421s have been modified to accept turboprop engines, making them very similar to the Cessna 425, which itself is a turboprop development of the 421.

Design

The 421 is an all-metal low-wing cabin monoplane with a retractable tricycle landing gear, and powered by two geared Continental GTSIO-520-D engines, wing-mounted in

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

. The cabin is accessed from a door, on the left hand side behind the wing, and has seating for six on the basic 421, or up to ten on later variants.

Variants

;421 :Type approved 1 May 1967, powered by two Continental GTSIO-520-Ds of each, maximum takeoff weight . 200 built. ;421A :Type approved 19 November 1968, powered by two Continental GTSIO-520-Ds of each, maximum takeoff weight . 158 built. ;421B Golden Eagle/Executive Commuter :Eight-seat light passenger transport aircraft. Type approved 28 April 1970, powered by two Continental GTSIO-520-Hs of each, maximum takeoff weight , later models . 699 built. ;421C Golden Eagle/Executive Commuter :Model with new wing and landing gear. Type approved 28 October 1975, powered by two Continental GTSIO-520-Ls or Continental GTSIO-520-Ns of each, maximum takeoff weight . 859 built. ;Riley Turbine Rocket 421 :Conversion of Cessna 421 aircraft by fitting two Lycoming LTP101 turboprop engines. Formal designation R421BL and R421CL for conversions of 421B and C respectively. ;Riley Turbine Eagle 421 :Conversion of Cessna 421C aircraft by fitting two 750hp Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-135 turboprop engines. Formal designation R421CP. ;Excalibur 421 :Re-engined 421C with Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-135A or PT6A-112 turboprops, supplemental type certificate held by Excalibur 421 LLC of Paso Robles, California. In 2013 it was announced that Aviation Alliance are acting as program managers for the Excalibur 421 upgrade programme. ;Advanced Aircraft Regent 1500 :Production of the Riley Turbine Eagle 421 conversion by Advanced Aircraft Corporation.

Military operators

;

* Royal Bahamas Defence Force ; *

Bolivian Air Force The Bolivian Air Force (BAF; or 'FAB') is the air force of Bolivia and branch of the Bolivian Armed Forces. History By 1938 the Bolivian air force consisted of about 60 aircraft ( Curtiss Hawk fighters, Curtiss T-32 Condor II and Junkers ...

at least one 421B was in use. *

Bolivian Army The Bolivian Army () is the land force branch of the Armed Forces of Bolivia. Figures on the size and composition of the Bolivian army vary considerably, with little official data available. It is estimated that the army has between 26,000 and 6 ...

; *

Royal Cambodian Air Force The Royal Cambodian Air Force ( ; ) is the branch of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces which is charged with operating all military aircraft in Cambodia. Organisation The Royal Cambodian Air Force is commanded by General Soeung Samnang, who h ...

; * Ivory Coast Air Force ; *

Royal New Zealand Air Force The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF; ) is the aerial warfare, aerial military service, service branch of the New Zealand Defence Force. It was formed initially in 1923 as a branch of the New Zealand Army, being known as the New Zealand Perm ...

three 421C. ** No. 42 Squadron RNZAF ; *

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ), commonly known as the Pak Army (), is the Land warfare, land service branch and the largest component of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The president of Pakistan is the Commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the army. The ...

at least one 421 in use. ; *

Philippine Army The Philippine Army (PA) () is the main, oldest and largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), responsible for ground warfare. , it had an estimated strength of 143,100 soldiers The service branch was established on December ...

One unit 421B in service used for

COMINT Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is the act and field of intelligence-gathering by interception of ''signals'', whether communications between people (communications intelligence—abbreviated to COMINT) or from electronic signals not directly u ...

. ; * Turkish Army Aviation at least three 421Bs in use. ; *

Air Force of Zimbabwe The Air Force of Zimbabwe (AFZ) is the air force of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces. It was known as the Rhodesian Air Force until 1980. The Air Force of Zimbabwe saw service in the Mozambican Civil War in 1985 and the Second Congo War of 1998– ...

at least one 421A in use.

Specifications (421C)

Notes

References

;Bibliography * * * * * * *

External links

{{Cessna

421 __NOTOC__ Year 421 ( CDXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Agricola and Eustathius (or, less frequently, year 1174 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominat ...

1960s United States civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1965 Twin piston-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear