Don't Shoot!

I've got Twinitis really really bad, and I've begun looking at 470 powered 310s.
in particular a 1974 310 Q
and then also a 1964 310I
The plan is a time builder, but something that will hold enough feathers to transport my family a few times per year.
I appreciate your input....
And Trixie would stay in the Hangar... the 310 would live under a patio hangar.... Cessnas like to be outside.

Chester,

They can be had cheap, have the gear gone over with a fine tooth comb, and check the wing for corrosion. Otherwise they are fast and will haul a load... Have you thought about a Barron , just as cheap and you know the innards already...

I've definitely thought about a baron... But I'd need a 58 to make mission work, and sadly the 58 prices, and the availability of such are few and far between.
I've even been stalking some "under-loved" travelairs I've seen around to offer some sort of Dry-lease/ let me run the engines for you, sort of deal. Spent an hour on the phone with a guy who's lost his medical, and the plane is just sitting.
I'm fortunate to have an excuse to fly 3-4 days a week from Dallas to East Texas for day trips, and I'm even compensated a little bit to offset the fuel cost through Mileage reimbursement. I've flown 241 hours so far this year... and although Trixie is near perfect, I'd love to be building a little more ME time while doing the same <200nm trips day after day.
I'd think if I had a plane that was just sitting slowly dieing I'd be happy to have someone who just fly the thing for me... As long as I didn't have to pay him to do it...
I've got two motorcycles rotting in my hangar... I would give them to someone if they ride them... I'm not interested in Selling them, because I like saying that I own them, but I wish I could have someone play with them.
I figure I'd be the same way if I had a couple of planes sitting around.... so I suspect there are people out there thinking the same thing... and if that's you, and you live in Texas contact me!

+1 on having the gear checked thoroughly, also the flaps drive system. It is a real B*tch to change the flap motor and rig the flap system. They seem to have built the plane around the flap drive system. The best twin Cessna guy in the country is Tony Saxton at TASS Aviation in OHIO. 1-419-658-4444.

What you need is one of my twin bonanzas.
Will haul your load in comfort and style.
roquew@bellsouth.net

I concur, no surprise. Check out a T-Bone before you commit to a 310. I was going to buy a 310, until I saw the Bone.

I would love a tbone. I want a tbone. But I'm about at the point I want the least expensive way to get the job done.
I like the idea of a travel air so I can use it for my back and forth to East Texas at not too much more than the Bonanza.
The twin Bo fits my mission well for the family but maybe not for my time building flights.
The 310 is only being considered for the time building options it proVides me.

I would love a tbone. I want a tbone. But I'm about at the point I want the least expensive way to get the job done.
I like the idea of a travel air so I can use it for my back and forth to East Texas at not too much more than the Bonanza.
The twin Bo fits my mission well for the family but maybe not for my time building flights.
The 310 is only being considered for the time building options it proVides me.

Get a B58 Chester, way better built twin.

so why does not a B55 work?

Chester, you might want to look at this web site

http://www.jtatwins.com/layout/jta.php?p=6
A lot of info about the Cessna Twins.

Yea,

Good questions, Chester, exactly what is the mission?

However, the short nosed 310s are not my favorite plane.

Chester posted his mission near the start of the thread. 200 Miles, time building machine. Single passenger... End result, he is looking for the cheapest twin time he can. Think of this along the lines of the throw away planes which have been discussed in previous threads.
In addition, a Baron is a machine which can carry the family and be a long range mission aircraft. This would be the ultimate goal, but is outside of the budget. Based on the limited knowledge I have of the market place, old Cessna Twins and Piper(s) are cheaper than than the Barons. (OTOH it may not be cheaper in terms of operating cost but I do not really know).

Tim

I'm flying a Seneca II. Once I got past the deferred maintenance and some of the stupid mechanic work done to it over the years, it is shaping up to be a fairly economical traveling plane.

The hard part is getting one that isn't dogged out. They are cheap to buy and fairly cheap to run, and have been very popular with the freight dogs over the years, where 22 year olds are sent out to fly stool samples and car parts in freezing bad weather at 3:00am. Rode hard and put up wet is pretty much SOP. You'll find - as did I - lots of duct tape and bent up paper clips holding them together.

Now that mine runs properly and reliably, I've got a FIKI 6 seater with good baggage capacity, 1582 lbs of useful load, over 1000-lbs of ZFW (as much as 1180 depending CG thanks to vortex generators) and it will fly at FL250, although it is much happier in the 15-19k feet range.

Below 10,000 feet, I usually run it at 2000 rpm and 45-55% power. That will get me around 145kts true, at about 16 gph total. Or I can fly in the midteens (where ever 19k density altitude exists that day) at about 185kts at 23.5 gph. No, not a speed demon, but all in all, not a bad set of compromises.

Your prototypal mission of 200 miles (assuming nautical miles) would be run between 1:25 - 1:10, depending on whether I wanted to burn the extra 3-4 gallons of gas to get there 12 minutes earlier.

I still have the occasional maintenance issue, but that is the nature of a 37 year old airplane. Mostly, it is a reliable plane with simple systems, reasonable fuel burn for the speed, good load carrying, comfortable cabin, redundant electrical and pneumatic systems, FIKI (though I avoid ice religiously), benign handling with counter-rotating props and reasonably good short field performance.

There is a reason that the Barron 58 and the Seneca have been in production all of these years. They both do their jobs well.

Have owned 2 Qs and 1 R model. They handle like a truck, but haul stuff like one too. The B55 I presently fly handles like a dream but lacks those fabulous wing lockers. And the back 2 seats are really tiny. You can actually put adults in the back of the 310. The Baron is about 10 Kts faster.

This is the second best time in history to be buying a used twin.

The best time is about a year from now.