quatrelle wrote:
In an attempt to keep in check the CHT and TIT, climb was restricted to around 300fpm due to having to reduce power and to keep pushing the nose down to get some airflow over the engine.
Those of us that owns a P210 and has learned how to set them up and operate them correctly, can tell you that you are completely wrong.
However if I just continued flying my P210 like I got it from the previous owner, I would probably seen exactly what you describe, and I would probably also exchanged 3 cylinders by now. Fixing the baffling, installing an engine monitor and getting GAMI injectors has made the P210 into an AWESOME travel machine.
And for the price you pay for a European example these days, there is nothing that can compare.
I would stay away from any EASA reg’ed aircraft, since you are hardly allowed to open the door with the permission from your CAMO. Use of old parts is also much easier on N’reg aircrafts.
Problem with the P210’s is that some of the pressurisation parts are no longer available from Cessna. But we can keep it going for the next 20 years with salvaging from decommissioned aircraft and 2nd hand maintenance providers.
There is however some pitfalls you must be aware of when buying, so a proper pre-buy with backing from a P210 expert is crucial.
The CPA forum is the place to be.
Or I can help you out.
Always calculate an expensive 2 first year of ownership unless you find a cream-puff example. But you normally pay a premium for those.
Thank you spirit49.
I saw a unpressurized one last week-end, with a mechanics who knows them. Seems interessant. I will advise us.
The Piper PA32R family divides into three catagories; Lance I, Lance II and Saratoga.
The Lance I is benign load carrier, much like the aircraft it originates from, the Cherokee 6 300. This model has the hershey-bar wing and will do shorter grass strips and is a bit faster than a C6 – think 145kts.
The Lance II is the one with the T-tail and comes in turbo-charged and Normally aspirated versions. There’s a lot of bar-room talk about these, but suffice to say with the proper training they handle just fine – but the take off roll is 50% longer than the Lance I and they are not significantly faster in the cruise.
The Saratoga has the normal tail and the more modern, longer wings and comes in Turbo and Non turbo formats. As they get newer, they get heavier. An early non-turbo Saratoga with manual flaps may have a useful load of as much as 1,400lbs; a late Saratoga with electric flaps may be as little at 1,050lbs which, with a full 600lb fuel load, makes it a 2 person with bags aircraft. The Saratoga is the fastest of the family, and with a fresh motor and moderately loaded give 160kts. I’ve never flown a turbo saratoga, but I suspect that at altitude, you could go faster.
I loved my normally aspirated Saratoga, and never felt that it handled like a truck, but it is designed as a going-places IFR loadcarrier, so by definition it’s a stable platform. For a versatile machine that is sort of all things to all men, a Lance I is quite hard to beat; It’s just VERY hard to find a nice one.
