Cessna 310

[minitour]

dont know what your "mission" is, but get a Piper Twin Comanche .. affordable, fast, decent payload.

What kind of numbers do you get out of it?
TAS/Fuel Burn

SE Climb (ISA Sea Level)

SE Cieling

Are those book numbers or experience numbers?

I had considered getting one a looooong time ago...but they wouldn't let me see the aircraft logbooks...and I was just a "Student" at the time...I can't imagine what an A&P would have found. Yikes!

Seriously though...at 160/side how well do they perform? I'd need room for me, 2-3 friends and golf bags or me...and the wife in the cargo area.

-mini

 

[Tinstaafl]

Don't expect golf bags + friends in a PA30/39. Maybe if you empty the bags & stuff them in separate to the clubs. A C310R - and all the C400 series with the longer nose - have great baggage room.

What about an Aerostar 600? That's the non-turbo model so costs are reduced a bit. Fast for the HP & even the last seat row uses upright seats instead of Seneca/Baron/C310's 'Bum near the floor & knees near your chin' type of seats.

The extended wing mod is worthwhile since it increases the useful load by about one person at the expense of 5kts (or was it 10kts? Been too long since I flew them) in the cruise

 

[Way2Broke]

Anyone have any time in a P model, with the RAM conversion? Does anyone have a POH for the P model that they do not need anymore. I am searching for one.

 

[RedGuy]

The 310 will blow the doors off a Senica as far as speed, range, and payload. But Like anything else speed cost money. I just drive em so I don't know the mx cost, but here's some performance numbers for you.

These are for an R model
Cruise 180kts @ 23 sq
Fuel Burn 25-28 GPH @ 23 sq
Range 1000-1400sm depending on what tanks you have
Full fuel payload aprox 900lbs
Payload with 3.3 hours fuel (mains full) aprox 1500lbs
Seats 6 adults uncomportably, 4 adults and 2 children comportably
Nose Baggage holds 5-6 golf bags

With passengers in the back 2 seats you do have to really watch your W+B, you will have to put weight in the nose in most cases with adults in the last 2 seats. Also the VG kit gives you and extra 180lbs gross weight, but also cost you a few kts. Personally I really like the 310.

 

[svcta]

It took me about 150 hours or so before I decided that I REALLY liked 310s. I remember the precise moment when it happened.

The control feel of a 310 is completely different than that of any piper twin I've flown. Heavier and more positive, I recall no slop in any of ours. They are a little heavy on the Mx, but we sent ours all over this hemisphere and rarely had one break on the road.

As a general rule we would always operate normally aspirated 310s at 10,000 feet, barring restrictive winds. It is a great altitude for that airframe.....180 true all day at 24-25 GPH.

The ballooning with the flaps is a result of having no style(sorry, it's true). Lead a speed reduction with the landing lights, depending on the model 310 they'll shave off nearly 5-10 kts, get flap speed and just start sneaking them in until you get the speed trend going where you want it. We used a 7:1 descent profile in this thing to keep the power pushed up and therefore preserve our engines, but it meant you had to really think through an approach.

A seneca II holds no challenge for a 310. I hate Senecas right off the bat, but a 310 is a pretty smoking ride for a light twin.

 

[Way2Broke]

Can someone enlighten me on the requirement of the Exhaust AD (00-01-16)?

 

[RedGuy]

I don't know the number, But if it's the one I'm thinking of it's an inspection of the exhaust and firewall to check for cracks. The one I'm thinking of only pertains to turbo-charged 3-400 series since the exhaust runs right infront of the fire wall and wing spar. I think it's an every 50 hr inspection for us.

 

[JimG]

I don't know the number, But if it's the one I'm thinking of it's an inspection of the exhaust and firewall to check for cracks. The one I'm thinking of only pertains to turbo-charged 3-400 series since the exhaust runs right infront of the fire wall and wing spar. I think it's an every 50 hr inspection for us.

I just had it done on my 340 (every 12 years/can't remember the hours) while doing the annual this year.

Spent $4500 on it.

Did the test flight with a mechanic about an hour ago as a matter of fact.

(I make it a practice to take one of the mechanics up on the first flight following an annual....if you know what I mean?)

 

[RedGuy]

I just had it done on my 340 (every 12 years/can't remember the hours) while doing the annual this year.

Spent $4500 on it.

Did the test flight with a mechanic about an hour ago as a matter of fact.

(I make it a practice to take one of the mechanics up on the first flight following an annual....if you know what I mean?)

Hey Jim, do you know if they're carrying the 400 series wing spare AD into the 340 also? Because that's really not much different than the 400 series. I was told the wing spar AD was due to cracking in the exhaust back by the fire wall and burned a hole through a couple of 402 spars. All but one of our 402's have had the wing spar mod done and at the same time they replace the fire wall with a stainless steel fire wall that I was told eliminates the inspecton AD. BTW why did it cost $4,500 when they do our 402's it's really just a matter of removing the air box and inspecting the exhaust near the fire wall, they pretty much always get it done in a day.

 

[JimG]

Hey Jim, do you know if they're carrying the 400 series wing spare AD into the 340 also? Because that's really not much different than the 400 series. I was told the wing spar AD was due to cracking in the exhaust back by the fire wall and burned a hole through a couple of 402 spars. All but one of our 402's have had the wing spar mod done and at the same time they replace the fire wall with a stainless steel fire wall that I was told eliminates the inspecton AD. BTW why did it cost $4,500 when they do our 402's it's really just a matter of removing the air box and inspecting the exhaust near the fire wall, they pretty much always get it done in a day.

That was rumored and I was warned about the possibility when I bought mine.

I had to get the exausts overhauled.

The stacks sure look pretty though.....(for awhile anyway).

 

[Lear Wanna Be]

.

The stacks sure look pretty though.....(for awhile anyway).

You must mean that they are silver, instead of that ugly rust color. Sorry to be the one to tell you, but that is only going to last about 15 hours or so. I was pretty disappointed when mine changed colors so quickly.

 

[Hung Start]

What you need to be concerned about, in ANY tip tanked Cessna, is the fact that right behind that pretty looking firewall, lies the crossfeed line. Now, all you knowledgeable wizzs' now that in the tip tank Cessna's there is NO way to shut off the crossfeeds. And also known is the crossfeeds go from one tank, clear across to the other sides fuel valve, located outside of the engine nacelle. So, if the exhaust elbow burns through (hidden behind a nice shield that is hard to inspect) you get about 1500 to 1600 degree exhaust burning a nice hole though that flimsy little aluminum firewall. Next stop,,, crossfeed line!

And, no way to shut it off. 50 gallons on fire inside your wing. Might be 100 gallons if it clips both lines. Did I mention that just behind the crossfied line was the spar?? OOOPS

Wings were lost. No joke. But just about every technician out there really does want us to live, so all the wise ones check that hidden exhaust bend like death warmed over. Just might be sad if the good guys who were privy to the mayhem retire, and the new generation don't know/remember what it was all about.

Hung

 

[JimG]

You must mean that they are silver, instead of that ugly rust color. Sorry to be the one to tell you, but that is only going to last about 15 hours or so. I was pretty disappointed when mine changed colors so quickly.

Yeah...that's what I meant about the "for awhile" comment.

It was a kind of a shocker for me this afternoon when I bent down and looked under the wing while pre-flighting it and saw them for the first time.

I've never seen silver stacks before.


Hung Start....

I know what you're talking about.

I had a little scare shortly after I got mine when I looked out the window to see a blue streak of "oil" coming up from right behind the left prop.

The only "blue stuff" in an engine is the fuel dye.....

In hindsight, I should've shut that engine down and cut off the fuel, but everything looked normal.

That engine was bathed in fuel and the cowling was puddled full.

Everything was blue.

 

[Way2Broke]

I don't know the number, But if it's the one I'm thinking of it's an inspection of the exhaust and firewall to check for cracks. The one I'm thinking of only pertains to turbo-charged 3-400 series since the exhaust runs right infront of the fire wall and wing spar. I think it's an every 50 hr inspection for us.

That would be the one, every 50 hours. Is there a solution to keep from be a reoccurring AD? Is it every 50 hours or every 30 days, or is it just every 50 hours?

 

[icefr8dawg]

All you would have to do is fly the two and you'd fall in love with the far more useful 310. MUCH better ride in turbulance, the dutch role gets programmed out of your hands in like two hours. Lots of power. Like falcon vs. Gulfstream. 310's just feel like a real plane.
As an FYI you can tell the true age of a 310 by looking at the rivet lines on the spar outboard of the engines. As they get older and more worn you'll see more replaced by the cherry rivet and PRC procedure most 310 mx's know about. The really worn ones have the top rivets working. In one 12,000 hour case I saw structural screws replace inboard rivets. Ask a mechanic which engine he'd rather work on, the 470 or 520's that power a 310 or the little turbo six in the seneca. Something you don't see mentioned is the econo cruise setting in the R model is pretty lean. Like 20gph/160ktas.

I've probably got 500 hours seneca II and 1000 hours in a K-R model 310's.