Since the 210 and Lance/Saratoga are all renown to handle like trucks, how do the two airframes compare? And is it a more direct comparison than 210 vs. Bonanza?

Sounds like you’re shopping, check insurance rates. That alone put me off the 210 trail years ago. No 210 time but a smidge of Chero-Lance-aToga time, roomy(-ier) cockpit and cabin. 210’s look great on paper from what I’ve seen. Personally don’t really care about handling too much, I fly to get someplace, as long as there’s nothing adverse or dangerous I’m happy to fly it.

The Saratoga or Lance have similar load carrying capacity, likely more roomy than the 210 for all aboard. Performance wise the Bonanza and 210 are faster.

Currently insurance companies are gun shy of the 210, high incidence of gear issues and very expensive to repair. Just finished an Annual / Pre-purchase on one for a customer, a very nice T210N, buyer had a great deal of 210 time, last one was a Silver Eagle turbine 210, he is 75 years old, cannot get coverage on the aircraft he just purchased.

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Brand X threads

Trying to figure out why you are reading “Brand X Talk” if you only want to read about Beechcrafts.

- Hands down the most active aviation forum..period.
- Multiple members have flown both types and willing to offer opinions.
- one doesn’t wait for a week to get a response.

If it doesn’t apply to you.. the red “X” is your friend.

Yea, what are the odds anyone on Beechtalk, let alone any active members would have any experience with those airframes?


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Yea, what are the odds anyone on Beechtalk, let alone any active members would have any experience with those airframes?


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I have no 210 time, but on my Lance I have found it a very docile and predictable flier. I can fill it to the gills and CG can be moved around liberally given the aft baggage compartment and the forward baggage compartment. In general, if the door can close, it will fly, assume gross is not exceeded.

Parts are relatively cheap(er) than a textron part so I hear. Solid gear, reliable Lyc power plants, lots of roomy space for the pilots and the passengers. The flight attendant does complain once in a while about unruly and at times, incorrigible passengers though. Fortunately, company rules allow for spankings in flight and even getting electronics taken away at-will.

Insurance is pretty cheap as well, albeit going up the last couple years.

If you are not worried about people wondering if you are Thurston Howell the Third on the ramp, the PA32 is an outstanding piece of equipment. If you do care what people think, by a Cirrus.

Pretty sure my airline frowned on spankings [especially the FAs] but it’s an intriguing option.

Trying to figure out why you are reading “Brand X Talk” if you only want to read about Beechcrafts.

Truthfully, I'm mostly daydreaming, but also playing the long game with SWMBO. Enough time laying the groundwork now will hopefully result in her being ready to dive into aircraft ownership when her grandkids arrive in the next few years.

Does the Lance/Toga performance suffer when heavy as much as the smaller Cherokees? Getting the 180 hp Archer off the ground when heavy seems like it takes years, while the 180 Skyhawk only seems to take weeks.

How about cruise speed differences?

I have no PIC time in the Saratoga but I’ve ridden up front in one with a friend a few times. I owned a ‘68 T210 for 14 years. The Saratoga has a far more “useful” cabin space with large club seats in back and a huge loading door. It feels much bigger up front (I believe the cabin is quite a bit wider). The Cessna had the usual “old Cessna” type of interior which had been re-done, but still had the relatively thin-walled doors and quirky closures (or lack thereof). When IMC in the flight levels, a small glacier would form against the wall behind the inside of the pilot’s door and my kids would occasionally be seen pinching snowflakes out of the air as they drifted about the cabin. That much said, the T210 was hands-down the most reliable plane I’ve ever seen (other than the very simple bush planes I fly). In 14 years, we had a turbo partially fail and a fuel pump wire came off…virtually nothing else went wrong other than an occasional flat tire or hydraulic seal leak. It flew very nicely with somewhat heavy controls that made it a good instrument platform. Handled cross-winds very well on landing and could taxi with up to 45kt direct cross-winds despite pretty-light build. Our plane was the “high-dihedral” older version with a somewhat smaller fuselage than the newer birds with flat wings…it was somewhat slow compared to more “modern” 210’s and even compared to the Saratoga. Ours cruised at 167-175kts (depending on altitude) at 17gph ROP, 157kts at 14gph LOP, 142kts at 12gph “very” LOP. Endurance was amazing with many flights over 6 hours. We called it “old reliable.”

My fixed gear Saratoga flies like a suburban. I owned a Cherokee 180 before the Toga and it handled similar but the longer tapered wing of the Toga flew a little different.

I’m slow @145 knots TAS but I get that at 13-14 gph. With a 1430 useful load nobody gets left at home. Myself, the wife and 3 kids. Pack it full of gear and 4 hours of fuel and she is still well within gross.

I love my Toga. I’d have to give up some of the things I love to go 10-20 knots faster.