Cessna 421
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The Cessna 421 Golden Eagle is a development of the earlier Cessna 414 light, twin-engine personal transport aircraft. The main difference is the switch to geared engines rather than the traditional direct drive models, meaning that rather than the drive shaft being direct connected to the propellor, they are connected through a series of reduction gears. This further meant that the engines had to operate at different RPM settings from traditional engines; this led to a number of complaints regarding the longetivity of the engines as pilots often ignored these special needs. Nevertheless the aircraft remains a popular high-performance pressurized personal aircraft despite continuing high prices and the fact that production ended in the 1980s due to decreased demand across the general aviation industry.
The 421 was first produced in 1968 and was redesigned in 1970 (421B). In 1976 the 421C appeared which featured "wet wings" (sealed wings holding fuel) and the absence of wing tip fuel tanks.
Some Cessna 421 aircraft have been modified to accept turboprop engines, making them very similiar (if not practically identical) to the Cessna 425, which itself is a development of the Cessna 421 with turboprop engines.
Military Operators
- Ivory Coast, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, Sri Lanka, Turkey,
References
http://www.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=154
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