Cessna T303 Crusader

Model T303 Crusader
Cessna T303 Crusader (N11FV)
Role	six-seat cabin monoplane
Manufacturer	Cessna Aircraft Company
First flight	February 14, 1978
Number built	315

The Cessna T303 Crusader is an American six-place light twin aircraft built by Cessna Aircraft Company. Production ceased in 1986.

Design and development

The original Cessna 303 Clipper was first flown on February 14, 1978,^[1] it was a low-wing four-seat Lycoming powered twin-engined aircraft that would have competed with the Piper Seminole, Gulfstream American GA-7 Cougar, and Beech Duchess. After market demand for 4-place light twins declined and only one 303 Clipper was built before Cessna redesigned the aircraft as a six-seat twin. The new model, designated the T303 Crusader first flew on October 17, 1979, with the first deliveries in October of 1981. The T303 is an all-metal low-wing six-seat twin-engined aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage. At the time it was the first all-new production twin built by Cessna in over a decade. With a declining market only 315 were ever built.

Operators

Military operators

 Haiti

Armed Forces of Haiti

 Guatemala

Armed Forces of Guatemala

Specifications (T303)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982-83 ^[2]

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Capacity: 5 passengers
• Length: 30 ft 5 in (9.27 m)
• Wingspan: 39 ft 0½ in (11.90 m)
• Height: 13 ft 4 in (4.06 m)
• Wing area: 189.2 sq ft (17.58 m²)
• Empty weight: 3,305 lb (1,499 kg)
• Max takeoff weight: 5,150 lb (2,336 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Continental TSIO-520-AE/LTSIO-520-AE turbocharged air-cooled flat-six piston engine, 250 hp (186 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 249 mph (216 knots, 400 km/h) at 18,000 ft (5,485 m)
• Cruise speed: 226 mph (196 knots, 363 km/h) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) (Max cruise, 71% power)
• Stall speed: 71.5 mph (62 knots, 115 km/h) (CAS), flaps down, power off
• Range: 1,174 mi (1,020 nmi, 1,891 km) econ cruise at 10,000 ft (3,050 m), 45 min reserves
• Service ceiling: 25,000 (7,620 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,480 ft/min (7.5 m/s)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Beechcraft Baron
• Cessna 310
• Piper Aztec
• Piper PA-34 Seneca
  

References

Notes

1. ^ Taylor 1982, p.346.
2. ^ Taylor 1982, pp. 346–347.

Bibliography

• Taylor, John W.R. Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982-83. London:Jane's Yearbooks, 1982. ISBN 0-7106-0748-2.