COMMON
C421
Cessna 421 Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle
“The piston twin that thinks it's a turboprop.”
Cessna (Textron) · private
NO PHOTO
Length
36 ft 4 in
Wingspan
41 ft 1 in
Max speed
240 kts
Range
1,200 nmi
Ceiling
30,200 ft
Engines
2x Continental GTSIO-520 (375 hp each)
Crew
1
Max passengers
7
Typical config
pressurized 6-8 seat cabin
Built
1,916
The Golden Eagle was the top of Cessna's piston line — pressurized, plush, and powered by geared Continentals that turn the propellers slower than the engines. The result is one of the quietest, smoothest-sounding piston twins ever built, and a cabin to match.
Fun fact
Its geared GTSIO-520 engines spin the props through a reduction gearbox — that low, syrupy engine note is unlike any other piston twin.
How to spot one
Big low-wing twin with a long nose and a wide oval cabin. Later models trade tip tanks for a clean wet wing. Looks halfway to a small airliner.
Crews call it
The 421
Sounds like
Famously low and smooth for a piston twin — the geared props turn slowly, so it hums where others buzz
Related
One might be overhead right now.
Bogey turns the The Golden Eagle from a dot in the sky into a card in your logbook. Coming to iOS and Android.
Get Bogey