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I have a Cessna T206 and it’s by far (in my opinion,) the most versatile piston single in existence. It’s pretty hard to stall.. I can get as slow as 40 knots
by briandear 6y ago
I have a Cessna T206 and it’s by far (in my opinion,) the most versatile piston single in existence.
It’s pretty hard to stall.. I can get as slow as 40 knots indicated before it fully stalls. I can fly super slow approaches if needed or come in fast. I can take off in 715 feet, land in 675. Fly legally 27,000 feet; It has onboard oxygen. Cruise at 18.5 gallons per hour at 150kts+ true airspeed and it can hold 117 gallons of gas and has a 3800 pound gross, 6 removable seats, and about a 1300 pound useful load. With WAAS, Active Traffic, XM weather, Synthetic Vision, Terrain Awareness — it’s like flying a mini-airliner. And hundreds of thousands cheaper than a Cirrus SR22T.
The only thing I wish I had was a FIKI system, but that’s about an $80k retrofit and kills some of the useful load.
Cessna is one of the greatest aircraft manufacturers around. Cool thing about the 206 is that transitioning from the 172 is pretty simple. Similar flight characteristics, just a lot more inertia to manage. I’ve flown the Cirrus and it’s a great airplane, but a lot less forgiving a slow speeds and it can’t carry a 55 gallon drum like the 206. I also wouldn’t want to land a Cirrus on anything remotely backcountry.
As far as trainers, the 172 is hard to beat, with a Diamond DA-40 coming in a close second. I know a lot of Piper folks might disagree, but the 172 is probably the best training aircraft out there, and with the Garmin G1000, training in a 172 is great experience for flying more advanced stuff later. (Honorable mention to the 150/152, but on a hot day with full fuel, it can be a struggle.)
- dver 6y agoThe 206 is great load hauling beast, not had the chance to fly one myself. Plenty of time in the 172 and 182, had a 172 for awhile. Mostly agree about the DA-40, but I'd actually put it ahead of the current 172. It's a bit faster, great vis, and super sweet to fly.
- metanoia 6y agoI love the DA-40, it was definitely a step up in capability from the 172 after I got my ticket. But the one time I flew it through the Mojave I definitely felt the DA-40's roots as a glider, I got pretty tossed around!
- sokoloff 6y agoCe206 is great airplane, but don’t the flaps foul the door? For a backcountry airplane, that seems like a bad decision.
- justanotherc 6y agoJust the back door. I have about 1300hrs 206 time mostly Northern Canada. Its not really a huge issue.
- justanotherc 6y agoI have about 1300hrs in 206s. They are great for off airport operations, and can handle very stiff crosswinds in the right hands, but I don't have much else good to say about them. PITA to get into, slow, and they handle poorly on the ground and in the air. I'll take a Cherokee 6 over a 206 any day of the week! Cherokee can haul more too. I've helped put a little Bravo snow machine into a 206, but I've carried coffins in the Cherokee...