Some prefer to have only 4 seats in the aircraft, with the pilot occupying one seat and leaving 3 for passengers. Others prefer to sacrifice a bit of comfort and install the second row of passenger seats, allowing 5 passengers to be flown with the pilot at once. The design of the Cessna 310R allows it to be powerful and compact.
Model: 310N
Initially, the two major civilian twin-engine general aviation offers on the market were the Beechcraft Twin Bonanza and the Piper Apache. The aircraft is rather nose heavy on the take-off roll if the trim is left on neutral and risks pitching up into a stall if set too far aft. The aircraft is certified in the normal category, which means intentional spins and aerobatics are not permitted. Stalls on the Cessna 310 are not described as particularly nasty but are still not quite as gentle as on Cessna’s high-wing singles. Pitch response is heavier, with light roll controls and good longitudinal stability.
Cessna 310 / Model Prices
Because Cessna maintains a lot of similarities between their designs, and because of the large number of Cessna 310s, parts are not a rarity. In the case of commercially owned aircraft, which is sometimes with the Cessna 310R, inspections are done based on operation times. The more the aircraft is flown for hire, the more regular maintenance inspections it will require.
Cessna 310 / Model Resale Value
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This is because the aircraft has to carry more fuel to take off when its weight is higher. On average, the Cessna 310 burns gallons of fuel per hour, assuming it is flying at its recommended cruising speed. If your Cessna 310 holds 102 gallons of fuel, you can fly for about 4 hours. This is important because the speed of a Cessna plane significantly impacts how quickly it burns fuel. And fuel burn directly affects the range of an aircraft because when fuel gets low, the plane must land.
All Cessna Aircraft
The nose of the most recent 310s has been extended 32 inches to add room for up to 350 pounds of avionics and/or cargo. Optionally available fuel tank capacity is up to 207 gallons and 285-hp injected powerplants provide a total of 50 horses more than before. Sleek, fast and efficient it was the world’s first modern light twin. Due to the variations in engines, airframe and other modifications, the potential buyer has a wide range of choices. Early 310s are vintage aircraft that will attract a crowd on the ramp or at an airshow, yet still provide fast, reliable transportation.
I dug back into my trip logs from years past and found one particular five-day route that required 11.7 hours — some long legs, some short. True airspeeds ranged from a low of 185 knots to a high of 198 knots. All that flying consumed 280.9 gallons of fuel for a block average of 24 gph. The 80 knot Vmc comes and goes quickly and lift-off occurs at 92 knots with the best twin-engine rate of climb speed of 107 knots quickly established. “When you buy a 310, you’ve got to sit down with a cup of coffee and figure this out,” Bowman said. You must take off and land on the main tanks, which are the 10-foot-long wingtip tanks.
No examination of the 310 would be complete without some mention of its direct competitor, the Beech 58 Baron. The six-seat Baron came along in 1970, a stretched version of the company’s earlier 55 Baron. The model 58 was granted a 10-inch-longer fuselage and a full-size aft cargo/passenger door abeam the boarding step. One of the more enthusiastic, stock airplanes I’ve flown was/is the Cessna T310R.
Starting with pressure-carbureted 240-hp O-470 Continentals, the 310 gained real fuel injection and an additional 20 hp per side with the C model, in 1959. Several variants of the IO-470 were used through the 1975 model year in the 310Q. General opinion of the IO-470 has always been good, and it seems the model has performed quite well in the 310. It's interesting to note that through the life of the 310, engine power was increased only 45 hp a side.
Compare this to the Beech light twins, which began with 180-hp Lycomings in the Travel Air and culminated (imploded, some say) with a pair of turbocharged 380-hp monsters in the 56TC. In 1957, the United States Air Force (USAF) selected the Cessna 310 for service as a light utility aircraft for transport and administrative support. The USAF purchased 160 unmodified 310A aircraft with the designation L-27A and unofficially nicknamed Blue Canoe,[5] later changed to U-3A in 1962. Navy and the type continued in United States military service into the mid-1970s.
The fuel selector for each engine is located between the two front seats. However, it also can be the most complicated system on the airplane, especially when you factor in the various auxiliary fuel options. A little study is all that’s required to manage fuel like a pro. With a maximum takeoff weight of 5,500 pounds, useful load is 1,824 pounds. Plane and Pilot builds on more than 50 years of serving pilots and owners of aircraft with the goal of empowering our readers to improve their knowledge and enthusiasm for aviation. Plane and Pilot expands upon the vast base of knowledge and experience from aviation’s most reputable influencers to inspire, educate, entertain and inform.
This aircraft is a military version of the 310F – designated the L-27B and later U-3B. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 4,990 pounds and a total of 36 were produced. Produced in 1958, Cessna’s B 310 variant features a new instrument panel and is powered by O-470-M engines with a maximum takeoff weight of 4,700 pounds.
Control response is excellent and conventional in every manner. The landing gear and rest of the flaps can come out at or below 138 knots. Obstacle clearance takeoffs are performed with 15° of flaps and an initial climb speed of 85 knots. That close to Vmc, with 15° of flaps, is not the most comfortable place to be. However, the 310R establishes an excellent climb angle while blowing right past 85 as well as its safe single engine speed of 92 knots.
At 5,400 lb (2,400 kg) gross weight the aircraft had a weight to power ratio of 7.71 lb (3.50 kg) per horsepower. This resulted in a cruising speed of 260 knots (480 km/h; 300 mph) at 18,000 feet (5,500 m) and a 3,000 ft/min (15 m/s) rate of climb. Two major changes in the 1956 model year were an increase in the number of windows and an improved Continental engine that was available. Earlier versions of the 310 are a little more difficult to pilot due to imbalance caused by fuel distribution. Since this has been revised, its maneuvering characteristics have improved.
Even when I opted to leave rudder trim neutral, I didn’t blow out my ACL pushing on the rudder. No piston twin is going to blow your socks off climbing on one engine, but the 310R can be depended on to give a solid climb even when heavy on a hot day as long as your technique is good. The single engine rate of climb is 370 fpm at sea level, standard conditions at gross weight. The 310 was the first twin engine model aircraft developed by Cessna after World War II.
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