Just curious Arlen, why the 310 over a B55?

NIce Ride. The guy who owns my airport has a 310 R model that I have flown in a few times. My 58 is just a little smoother because his autopilot has a funny hiccup in it occasionaly. Your STEC wont have that problem I am sure. Have a great time and welcome back to the dark side.



PL

Arlen, is that 130 useable or total? I would expect the 310 to have a similar endurance as the 55, but if that's total fuel you'd have to be a lot more efficient to have the same endurance. What's your fuel burn and speed in cruise?

I'm only curious because the 310 is my 'other' choice, and now that I see the cool kids doing it...

I wanted something different. This plane had the panel, the care, the engine times, and the price I wanted. My A&P/IA is a 310 owner and 310 expert.

And besides that, I think they're sexy!

Me too.

“From out of the clear, blue FLORIDA skies comes SKY KING!”

I too went down the B-55 vs C-310 path and now own a C-310.

The deciding factor for me was cabin size...those extra 7inches of shoulder room, and not having to rub shoulders w anyone was a big deal for me.

My passengers can get up and crouch to the rear seats if needed (my fiancé does this on many trips to sleep as seats recline almost flat).

Both planes have their quirks, but I think costs will be same in the end (unaffordable). May as well go for it!

What I'm finding is that you can operate these things for about 20-40% more than a HP Single.

I am currently browsing twins myself as my 3rd child continues to grow. 310's weren't on my radar until now. I've never had the pleasure of riding in one. From a search of the sites, you can get a lot of airplane for the money. What are the gotchas with the 310?

Way to go Arlen!!!

Did Luc help you pick the color?

Congrats Arlen!

When I sat in Mark's 310 last year I was surprised how much room it had. Now you just need to make your panel look like his!!

Enjoy!

I owned an I for awhile... it was a great plane and 9 people got their multis in it. (Hope you didn't buy that one).

You can practice addressing the left front seat by stepping behind the right front one and slipping in between them just like a real captain!!

BH

Michael,

Remember, the Baron & your V-tail have same cabin...if the plane feels cramped now, it won't change with the B-55...you will be able to get luggage in the nose & help w CG however.

The "gotchas" with the 310 is really one item; the gear rigging. If properly rigged every year and or side brace kit is installed, you have no issues. The gear collapse issue comes with imposing side loads on out of rig gears.

Much is made of the fuel system, but it's really simple. There are four tanks. Two(2) tips & two (2) wing tanks. Tips are mains. Run them for at least an hour before switching to wing tanks. When wing tanks r run down, back to mains. That's it.

I think the biggest thing is to find a plane that hasn't been neglected...

In many cases there are also nacelle tanks. 20 gal each. Pumps from the nacelle tank to the tip tank (aka the main) on the same side the nacelle tank is located. No fuel gauge. Run it until the "tank empty" light illuminates. 25 minute transfer time. Time it to make sure it was full when you started (if you forgot to look).

Process is to run both engines off the main into which the fuel is being transferred. Once it is dry you will have about five extra gallons in the main. Continue feeding both engines out of the main on one side until fuel is balanced. Then switch back to mode where each engine is feeding from tip tank on same side as engine.

It is not hard but it is more complex than many fuel systems.

Arlen - here's some fun aviation nostalgia for you -

This statement is REALLY true!

One of the BIG frustrations in my plane search was sorting through the many dozens of these older twins that had been sitting in some hangar or on some ramp for years......not flying. Many had a series of one log entry per year, an "annual" that -- to me -- was a very high risk of pencil-whipped incompleteness..

I got to the point where my first -- and often only -- request for a seller was logs from just the most recent 2 or 3 years. This simple exercise eliminated perhaps 75% of the planes listed for sale.

A couple of them advertised "Fresh annual with sale." No thanks!