Intro this is the cesna 421 Golden Eagle the aircraft that stands at the head of cessna's 400 series piston twins it's roomy and relatively quiet fast and efficient performance approaches that of some turbo props but purchase and operating costs are considerably lower though still considerable they only look good when compared to propy Jets the 421 which shares its basic airframe with most of the other 400 series Cessna twins was introduced in 1968 cesna aimed it at buyers who wanted better carrying capacity and performance than other piston twins offered but who were put off by the high cost of turbo props to get the performance these buyers were looking for Cessna decided to use Continental GT Doo 520 geared engines producing a healthy 375 horsepower a piece that's nearly 3/4 of a horsepower per cubic inch and the inevitable stress meant short service life originally the TBO was a mere 12200 hour later engines sported heavier crank cases that increased TBO to a still low 1600 hours the airplane was an immediate hit with 200 sold that first year clearly the golden eagle was something the market was looking for as is common refinements were immediately applied and Cessna produced the a b and c variants the C model was produced relatively unchanged for 9 years in 1985 it like all the other piston Cessnas was discontinu Ed for lack of sales overall the 421c represents about half of the production run of 1,920 aircraft but how does it compare to other aircraft in its class stay with us till the end of the video because here's everything you need to know about the Cessna 421 Golden Eagle stepping Cabin inside where the 421 really shines is in its Comfort especially for passengers most models are set up with seven seats two cockpit four cabin club and the seventh seat is the potty though legal almost no one uses the potty seat it is small and faces inboard some cabins have an eighth seat but the majority of the time this seat is stored in a hanger when installed it takes up valuable baggage space two executive tables the AF cabin potty and an aft refreshment Center are typical cabin features a few aircraft will have a forward refreshment Center positioned behind the pilot seat while aircraft owners and Pilots can debate the relative noisiness of various airplanes the fact remains that they're all loud it's just a question of how loud the cabin is among the quietest in the business thanks mostly to its geared engines that produce plenty of power at low prop speeds the pressurization system delivers shirt sleeve Comfort at altitude providing sea level pressure up to 10,000 ft and maintaining a 10,000 ft cabin Al altitude at true altitudes of more than 26,000 ft the cabin is also quite wide at 55 in or 1.38 M and high at 50 in or 1.25 M and has sufficient room for such amenities as a galley and toilet all of this translates into lower fatigue levels at the end of a flight noise and cramped quarters are tiring and using oxygen dehydrates the crew and passengers the ample baggage compartments also contribute to usable cabin space for most flights it's not necessary to carry anything in the cabin as is common in many cabin class twins the door is blocked by the left rear seat to get in or out it's necessary to move that seat all the way forward this can complicate emergency eress and make for some musical chairs during loading Cockpit now let's step into the cockpit up front the flight deck is generally well laid out with good seats offering plenty of adjustability the view outside is hindered a bit by the thick window pillars on Ice equipped 421s the entire windshield is heated eliminating the flat Hot Plate common on many twins the original cockpit was designed with a dual pilot configuration in mind featuring a traditional array of flight instruments that provide essential flight data the panel shows good design for the most part with the engine gauges right up top and near the Pilot's line of sight where they ought to be in some models the fuel gauge is way over on the right out of sight out of mind but is a capacitance type calibrated in pounds which is more accurate than float gauges the primary flight display and the initial models consisted of round dial analog gauges which were standard for the ERA this setup included a vertical speed indicator an altimeter and an air speed indicator alongside engine performance gauges that monitor manifold pressure and RPM as avionics technology advanced many Cessna 421 aircraft were retro fitted with modern glass cockpit systems which replace the analog gauges with digital screens that offer more comprehensive and easily digestable information a popular upgrade is the Garmin g600 or G500 flight display system these systems integrate primary flight data navigation weather terrain and traffic information onto a single display enhancing situational awareness and flight safety the Garmin setup often includes a gns 530 or gns 430 GPS navigator the autopilot systems have also seen significant upgrades with many aircraft Now featuring The Bendix King KFC 200 or Garmin GFC 600 the KFC 2 200 is known for its robust performance offering features like altitude hold vertical speed control and approach coupling the Garmin GFC 600 a more modern retrofit option provides enhanced autopilot capabilities including electronic stability and protection UND speed and over speed protection and fully coupled approaches another critical aspect of the avionics is its communication and navigation radios older models originally equipped with analog radios have often been updated to include digital frequency selective radios like the Bendix King ky1 196a for communication and the k53 for navigation furthermore the addition of modern mfds like the Garmin GMX 2 200 or avadine x600 in the P provides Pilots with extensive situational awareness these mfds can display a range of data from Traffic Information Systems weather radar and toss now let's talk about the Engine, Performance Specs, and Flying Experience engine performance specifications and how it flies the cesna 421c golden eagle is powered by two continental gtco 520 l or n engines the L version is on 1976 through 1980 models and the N is installed on 1981 and newer aircraft both engines provide 375 HP and have a 1600 hour TBO each engine is a geared turbocharged Flat 6 and the gearing in the gtsio 520 reduces propeller RPM relative to engine RPM which results in quieter operation and reduced vibration Cessna chose the geared Continentals for their combination of high power and low prop speeds which allowed the 421 to deliver good performance without punishing noise levels but the geared engines proved to be more delicate than their direct drive siblings developing a reputation for cracking cases the 421s engines have gotten lots of attention for being delicate the owners all note that they will go to TBO if treated well that TBO was in the early models a dismally short 1200 hours later engines had beefed up cases that raised the mark to, 1600 typical for engines of this size but this did not eliminate the case cracking problem entirely the aircraft requires 2,350 ft or 715 M of Runway to take off at sea level on a standard day and has a useful load of about 2,200 lb or 1,000 kg temperature and throttle abuse are pure poison those gtso 520 engines need to be carefully managed over boosting on takeoff is one of the big reasons behind the GT seo's case cracking reputation the throttles must be handled slowly and carefully with the pil at constantly checking manifold pressure during the ground roll watching for Upward deviations in Flight engine temperatures demand attention cylinder head temperatures that go too high or too low lead to cylinder problems letting down calls for precise planning to prevent shock cooling a steady climbs demand equally good management cessna's sales literature is full of direct comparisons to turbo props and indeed the 421 holds up well according to cessna's sales kit for the 421c at 25,000 ft the golden eagle cruises faster than either the piper cheyenne1 or the beach King Air C90 beating the ladder by 29 knots all engine rate of climb is 2,000 ft or 610 M almost 200 fpm better than the Cheyenne and within 15 fpm of the king air service ceiling at 30,200 FT or 9,200 m is much higher with both engines running and quite close with only one prop turning single engine rate of climb is not as good no surprise there but it's still within Striking Distance about 200 fpm less than the king air on paper the 421 is quite fast 256 knots for the maximum speed and 240 knots for the cruise speed at 75% power in the real world though Cruise speeds are a bit less Pilots report flight planning for anywhere from 195 to 215 KT at about 20,000 ft fuel burn is 50 gallons in the first hour and 40 thereafter on shorter hops however it doesn't pay to climb that high trips shorter than 300 Mi or 500 km are normally flown at lower altitudes and speeds like most aircraft the 421 is not able to fill all the seats baggage compartments and fuel tanks at the same time it will however carry four or five adults their bags and full or near full fuel owners are unanimous in their Praise of the airplane's real world World usefulness in load carrying and finally the aircraft has a maximum range of 1,500 nautical miles which is 1,720 M or 2,800 km and a minimum Landing distance of 2,300 ft or 700 M now let's talk about Purchase Price and Operating Cost the price and cost the purchase price for a new cesna 421 is $300,000 to $700,000 and while the annual fixed cost is estimated at $40,000 to $60,000 the average hourly operating cost is estimated at $400 to $600 thank you for staying with us till Outro the end here are two videos you can watch next if you enjoyed this video please make sure to leave a like And subscribe thanks for watching