TOWERING PRESENCE The Cessna Caravan's path from inglorious freighter to luxury air yacht BY DAVE HIRSCHMAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVID TULIS It's training time in an amphibious Cessna 208B Caravan, and the next simulated emergency is an engine failure. My chosen off-field landing site is an oval-shape Minnesota lake about four miles ahead and 4,000 feet below. Gliding there in most single-engine seaplanes would be a cinch-but not this time. " The float Caravan is a study in aerodynamic drag, " says Brian Addis, a former test pilot at Wipaire in nearby St. Paul, Minnesota. He sets up a worst-case scenario by pulling the 675-horsepower Pratt & Whitney PT6A-114 to idle, keeping the three-blade propeller at fine pitch (high rpm) so that it acts as an air brake, and leaving the flaps full down at 30 degrees. AOPA PILOT / January 2023 67