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Cessna Golden Eagle

Type-certificate model Cessna 421: the catalog groups its variants under that name.

65 for sale, 31 with a US-dollar asking price. Asking prices, not sales.

What does a Cessna Golden Eagle ask?

$424,900 is the median of 31 US-dollar asking prices; the middle half ask $299,500–$497,000.

65 for sale now. Asking prices, not sales.

How far does a Cessna Golden Eagle fly?

Across its 4 catalog variants, book ranges run 840–840 nm; the 421 flies furthest, about 3 h 30 min at 240 kt.

Still air, no reserves; catalog confidence high.

What does a Cessna Golden Eagle cost to keep?

It depends on how you fly it and where you keep it, so Sprinkle doesn’t give one figure. Work it out on your own numbers.

Go to the cost calculator →

Asking price by year built

Each dot is one aircraft's asking price; the line is each year's median, the band its low–high. 1981–1983: 15 for sale, 9 priced.

1981–1983$0$200k$400k$600k$800k19691973197719811982: $474,9001982: $695,0001982: $595,0001982: $385,0001982: $595,0001982: $749,0001980: $474,9001980: $549,0001980: $420,0001980: $499,0001980: $440,0001978: $349,0001978: $197,0001978: $199,0001981: $474,9001981: $439,0001981: $670,0001969: $69,0001977: $281,2891977: $395,0001977: $550,0001977: $479,9001972: $149,5001971: $135,0001973: $299,0001973: $329,0001973: $399,0001976: $300,0001976: $275,0001979: $424,9001979: $495,000
The figures by year
YearFor salePricedMedian askLow–high
196810——
196911—$69,000–$69,000
197010——
197111—$135,000–$135,000
197211—$149,500–$149,500
197363—$299,000–$399,000
197530——
197642—$275,000–$300,000
197774—$281,289–$550,000
1978113—$197,000–$349,000
197922—$424,900–$495,000
1980105$474,900$420,000–$549,000
198183—$439,000–$670,000
198276$595,000$385,000–$749,000
198410——

Medians from 5 priced aircraft up. Asks outside 0.6–1.6× their year's median are left out.

Recently listed

View all 65 for sale →

Range by variant

Book ranges from the catalog: still air, full fuel, no reserves, at the confidence shown. Plan with your own numbers.

  • 421
    840 nm · 240 kt cruise · high confidence
  • 421A
    840 nm · 240 kt cruise · high confidence
  • 421B
    840 nm · 240 kt cruise · medium confidence
  • 421C
    840 nm · 240 kt cruise · medium confidence

The Cessna Golden Eagle in brief

The Cessna 421 is a pressurized piston twin, called the Golden Eagle, with geared Continental engines and a cabin-class interior.

It is flown by owner-pilots and small charter operators who want a pressurized cabin at a lower cost than a turboprop. The 421C has a wet wing and no tip tanks.

65 Cessna Golden Eagle listings are for sale across the sites Sprinkle reads as of Nov 12, 2026, built 1968–1984.

The middle half were built 1976–1980.

How the Cessna Golden Eagle performs

The 421 carries a cabin-class load in comfort above much of the weather. Its geared engines need careful operation, and their health sets much of the cost to run one.

By the catalog, the fastest variant cruises at 240 knots.

The longest book range across its variants is 840 nautical miles: still air, no reserves.

It seats up to 10 passengers.

Buying a Cessna Golden Eagle

Engine and propeller times, the pressurization system and the avionics shape what a 421 asks; a fresh pair of engines makes a large difference.

The middle half of US-dollar asks run $299,500–$497,000, around a median of $424,900, from 31 priced listings. Asking prices, not sales.

The middle half of those that publish airframe time show 4,483–6,839 hours, from 58 listings.

Before an offer, check

  • Time since overhaul on both geared engines and their gearboxes.
  • Pressurization system condition and cabin leak checks.
  • Corrosion and the condition of the landing gear.
  • A pre-buy inspection by a mechanic who knows the type, chosen by you, not the seller.
  • Complete logbooks for the airframe, engines and propellers, with any gaps explained.
  • Damage history and any repairs, against the logbooks and the registry record.
  • Engine time against the overhaul interval, and the shop that did the last overhaul.

Written by Sprinkle’s editors, reviewed Oct 29, 2026. Figures from the listings Sprinkle reads, read Nov 12, 2026. A market read from asking prices, not an appraisal.

About the Cessna Golden Eagle

Manufacturer
Cessna, United States
Category
Piston airplane
Variants in the catalog
4: 421, 421A, 421B, 421C
Passengers, at most
10
840 nm
Cruise speed, fastest
240 kt
31,000 ft
3,300 kg (7,275 lb)
FAA

From Sprinkle's aircraft catalog. Figures are the highest across the model's variants.

The Cessna Golden Eagle fleet

Registered fleet
907
Median age
50 years
Registration changes, past 12 months
30
Most built in the
1970s

From the national aircraft registers Sprinkle reads. Read Nov 12, 2026.

Cessna Golden Eagle type certificates

421 FAA A7CE
approved May 1, 1967 · Part 3 of the Civil Air Regulations dated May 15, 1956, as amended by 3-1 through 3-5 and 3-8 · MTOW 3,084 kg · 6 passengers · Two Continental GTSIO-520-D, reduction gear ratio .667:1 · Type certificate data sheet (opens in a new tab)
421B FAA A7CE
approved Apr 28, 1970 · Part 3 of the Civil Air Regulations dated May 15, 1956, except Subpart B, as amended by 3-1 through 3-5 and 3-8; Subpart B, paragraphs 23.25 through 23.253 of the Federal Aviation Regulations dated February 1, 1965, as amended by 23-1 through 23-7. · MTOW 3,382 kg · 6 passengers · Two Continental GTSIO-520-H reduction gear ratio .667:1 · Type certificate data sheet (opens in a new tab)
421C FAA A7CE
approved Oct 28, 1975 · Part 3 of the Civil Air Regulations dated May 15, 1956, as amended by 3-1 through 3-5 and 3-8, excluding the following portions: Subpart B and paragraphs 3.356, 3.357, 3.358, 3.359, 3.411, 3.429, 3.433, 3.434, 3.435, 3.436, 3.437, 3.445, 3.581, 3.582, 3.583, 3.584, 3.585, 3.587, 3.628, 3.666, 3.672, 3.673, 3.674, 3.675, 3.700(c), 3.728, 3.767(a) and 3.767(b). Include the following portions of FAR 23 dated February 1, 1965, as amended by 23-1 through 23-14; Subpart B and paragraphs 23.729, 23.901, 23.909, 23.951, 23.954, 23.955, 23.959, 23.973, 23.1041, 23.1043, 23.1047, 23.1143, 23.1305, 23.1387(e), 23.1435, 23.1557(c), and 23.1559(b); as amended by 23-1 through 23-21, paragraph 23.1385(c); as amended by 23-1 through 23-23, paragraph 23.1327. · MTOW 3,382 kg · 6 passengers · Two Continental GTSIO-520-L or GTSIO-520-N reduction gear ratio .667:1 · Type certificate data sheet (opens in a new tab)

From the regulators' type-certificate data sheets. Figures shown only where the reading is high-confidence.

Cessna Golden Eagle manuals and documents

The 16 most useful of 24 documents in Sprinkle’s library for this model. PDFs open from Sprinkle’s own files.

What one would cost to fly

Put in your own figures; the totals update as you type.

Flying
Overhaul cost over hours to overhaul
Fixed
Databases, subscriptions, cleaning
Buying
The median of 31 US-dollar asking prices for this model: replace it with your offer.
Borrowed: $340,000
A year at these figures
$61,422
A month
$5,119
A flight hour, all in
$614
Flying (fuel and reserve)
$10,300
Fixed
$13,300
Loan
$37,822

Fields marked Typical hold a rule-of-thumb figure for a piston airplane: an assumption, not Sprinkle's data. Replace them with your own.

Not a quote: Sprinkle doesn't hold insurance, hangar or maintenance costs. Asking prices, not sales.

From the listings Sprinkle reads for this model. Read Nov 12, 2026.