The Cessna 441 Conquest II is the first

turboprop A turboprop is a Gas turbine, gas turbine engine that drives an aircraft Propeller (aeronautics), propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction drive, reduction gearbox, gas compressor, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propellin ...

powered aircraft designed 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 ...

and was meant to fill the gap between their jets and piston-engined aircraft. It was developed in November 1974, with the first aircraft delivered in September 1977. It is a pressurized, 8–9 passenger turbine development of the

Cessna 404 Titan The Cessna 404 Titan is an American twin-engined, light aircraft built by Cessna Aircraft. It was the company's largest twin piston-engined aircraft at the time of its development in the 1970s. Its US military designation is C-28, and Swedish ...

. The

ICAO The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international sch ...

designator as used in

flight plan Flight plans are documents filed by a aviator, pilot or flight dispatcher with the local Air Navigation Service Provider (e.g., the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA in the United States) prior to departure which indicate the plane's planned ...

s is C441.

Development

The original design from 1972 for this aircraft was known as the Model 435 and was to be powered by Continental GTSIO-520X engines with three-bladed propellers. By 1975, the designed evolved into the turboprop-powered Model 441. It was certified by the FAA on August 19, 1977. The high

aspect ratio The aspect ratio of a geometry, geometric shape is the ratio of its sizes in different dimensions. For example, the aspect ratio of a rectangle is the ratio of its longer side to its shorter side—the ratio of width to height, when the rectangl ...

wings use bonded construction techniques. Cessna renamed the Model 441 the Conquest II in 1983. 1984 models starting with constructor number 195 used lighter-weight, four-bladed McCauley

propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

s. Phillips, Edward H.: ''Wings of Cessna, Model 120 to the Citation III'', Flying Books, 1986. A 441 with

Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A The Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6 is a turboprop aircraft engine produced by Pratt & Whitney Canada. Its design was started in 1958, it first ran in February 1960, first flew on 30 May 1961, entered service in 1964, and has been continuously upd ...

-112 turboprops was flown in 1986, but did not enter production. Cessna built 362 of the aircraft between 1977 and 1986. A smaller aircraft was marketed as the Cessna 425 Conquest I, itself a turbine development of the

Cessna 421 The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle is an American six or seven seat twin-engined light transport aircraft, developed in the 1960s by Cessna as a pressurized version of the earlier Cessna 411. Development The Cessna 421 was first produced in May 1967 ...

. In September 2007, Cessna limited the Conquest II to 22,500 hours of air time through a Supplemental Inspection Document. This makes it effectively mandatory for US air carriers but only advisory for private operators.

Performance

The Cessna 441 cruises at

true airspeed The true airspeed (TAS; also KTAS, for ''knots true airspeed'') of an aircraft is the speed of the aircraft relative to the air mass through which it is flying. The true airspeed is important information for accurate navigation of an aircraft. Tra ...

while burning of fuel per hour at flight level 290. The aircraft's maximum range is at TAS and /h at FL350. With six to nine seats, its

basic operating weight Empty weight (EW) is the sum of the ‘as built’ manufacturer's empty weight (MEW), plus any standard items (SI) plus any operator items (OI), EW = MEW + SI + OI. The EW is calculated for each aircraft series and each unique configuration of an ...

(BOW) allows a payload at full fuel, but MTOW can be increased by with aftermarket modifications.

Upgrades

Most 441s currently in service have been upgraded to TPE331-10 engines and four-bladed propellers (if not originally equipped). The -10 engine increases climb performance, service ceiling, and TBO, while four-blade propellers increase climb rate, cruise speed, and ground clearance, while reducing cabin noise.

Operators

The Conquest II is operated by corporate owners, air charter operators and previously by the

Royal Flying Doctor Service The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), commonly known as the Flying Doctor, is an aeromedical retrieval service in Australia and the largest of its kind in the world. It is a non-profit organisation that provides urgent and emergency medica ...

in Australia. Examples of the type have been exported to many countries including Austria, Australia, Canada, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Mexico, Norway, Peru, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. By May 2019, 290 aircraft remained in service, at a $.75-.9M value down from $1-1.9M in 2011.

Specifications (Conquest II)

References

External links

Airliners.net - Photographs

Airliners.net - Cessna Conquest
{{Cessna

441 __NOTOC__ Year 441 (Roman numerals, CDXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Cyrus of Panopolis, Seleucus without colleague (or, less frequently, year 119 ...

1970s United States civil utility aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1975 Twin-turboprop tractor aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear