2006 Cessna T206H Stationair

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N444MD

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Man's mind and spirit grow with the space in which they are allowed to operate. — Krafft A. Ehricke
We're looking for a working plane with longest mission ~ 550 nm from OH to Northern Fla primarily to carry pax and medical supplies between our offices, and as a weekend getaway for my wife and I. Found this plane and had a few questions regarding likely maintenance required over the next 3-5 years and any known problems / downsides to the model and year. Hopefully will use it 10-12 hrs / month. If it looks good on paper will plan on a pre-buy. Thanks in advance for input.

http://www.airmart.com/aircraft-for-sale/114/cessna/n24293-2006-cessna-t206h-stationair/n24293
 
Buy it fast before the folks in Arlington Texas buy it and resale it for 50 to 80k more than this.

These planes are rock solid. The engine is closing in to TBO...but they often fly beyond that. Air Power has these engines...

The only the down I see if that this has the KAP140 autopilot...which is inferior to the GFC700 autopilot that the 07 forward models years had installed from the factory.

I owned an 07 182 and flew it for a little over 850 hours...it let me down exactly twice over a 5 year period. Once for an elevator trim motor and the other as a G1000 issue that was quickly resolved.
 
Thank you for fast reply. The KAP140 was also a concern to me given what's out there now, but I have used one in a smaller Cessna and it seemed to do the job. Long way from NXI for certain. Are they easy update to an STEC or similar ? I'd assume an update GFC700 isn't realistically practical or cost effective.
 
Solid plane but lack of WAAS and the KAP140 are limitations to consider.
 
Tip tanks would be nice to have for the flying you are describing. In the pre-HD models, they will give you a 200lb useful load increase, around 3-5kts in cruise, and 90 minutes of range. There is a place in northern Ohio that installs them and has a good reputation. Also agree that lack of WAAS is a slight drawback, but that is a pretty great price for a T206 in the current market, especially with a TKS system. Good luck!
 
Cervieres said:
Also agree that lack of WAAS is a slight drawback, but that is a pretty great price for a T206 in the current market, especially with a TKS system.
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Yes, I definitely like the TKS system for the occasional encounter from which I haven't always managed to steer clear. Some future avionics upgrades might be nice but the plane seems ready for work. It's a about annual time so maybe there's a pre-buy opportunity. I'm going to plan on it. All advices appreciated !
 
I owned an 05 182 with the KAP140. It was solid and reliable but the 700, as we all know, is simply way better. My KAP140 did the job, for sure. I have no idea about an upgrade path to an STEC or otherwise. Great question actually. I don't think that the GFC 700 upfit is even possible...again, another great question.

I DO know that this is a rock solid bird...the ice protection is a huge plus...

N444MD said:
Thank you for fast reply. The KAP140 was also a concern to me given what's out there now, but I have used one in a smaller Cessna and it seemed to do the job. Long way from NXI for certain. Are they easy update to an STEC or similar ? I'd assume an update GFC700 isn't realistically practical or cost effective.
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Man, that is a crapload of money for a 15 year old airplane with 15 year old avionics and no waas.
 
asicer said:
Unless it's to the 3100, I would think an STEC would be more or less a lateral move from the KAP140.
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That would primarily be due to the 3100 being attitude instead or rate-based ? Looks like the upgrade would be ~ 20K but they don't specifically list the 206. https://genesys-aerosystems.com/news/over-100-aircraft-models-approved-for-the-s-tec-3100
The spec doesn't mention but I assume an '06 G1000 would have SVT ? The ForeFlight version of SVT on a standby iPad would probably be as good, or better.

edit: for typos
 
A 206 is a truck, good aircraft for hauling crap. Turbo adds a few knots but it's no speed demon. KAP140 is fine, there will always be something newer and fancier.

Turbo is great but it does stress the engine more. Just factor in a top overhaul halfway between TBO. In fact unless you need a turbo for a lot of high DA flying you should consider an NA 206.

I fly a T182T for work and it's a great aircraft but I"m not sure I would own a turbo personally. Now, it sounds like it will be a company plane first, personal plane second so that's fine. 206s are working planes so they hold value relatively well. You can also look at C-210s for your mission. Much faster and good payload, especially turbo ones.
 
Salty said:
Man, that is a crapload of money for a 15 year old airplane with 15 year old avionics and no waas.
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Seems pretty close to fair market value. WAAS aside, it’s hard to find a similar vintage six place piston single with <2000 hours for much less.
 
Cervieres said:
Seems pretty close to fair market value. WAAS aside, it’s hard to find a similar vintage six place piston single with <2000 hours for much less.
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Exactly, one can find older planes looking for an import to a US hanger for more $ on all the plane sale forums. This plane appears to be priced reasonably.

Geosync said:
A 206 is a truck, good aircraft for hauling crap. Turbo adds a few knots but it's no speed demon. KAP140 is fine, there will always be something newer and fancier.

Turbo is great but it does stress the engine more. Just factor in a top overhaul halfway between TBO.

You can also look at C-210s for your mission. Much faster and good payload, especially turbo ones.
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Thanks, It's actually had the TOH due to low compressions so that's done for now. I do wan to fly out west at some point to some attractions my wife always has wanted to see so the turbo is nice. I'm not one to run an engine with the waste gate wide open so hopefully my maintenance mileage will reflect. C210s are great but I'd prefer not to go that old and have to get current with all the idiosyncracies of aged RG Cessnas.
edit: typos
 
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I'm always amused by negative comments about airplane prices. It infers the poster is more knowledgeable about the aircraft type, its options, condition, and market value than the seller is.
 
Geosync said:
Turbo is great but it does stress the engine more. Just factor in a top overhaul halfway between TBO. In fact unless you need a turbo for a lot of high DA flying you should consider an NA 206.
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I like having the turbo for high altitude performance, but I do worry about engine longevity. I fly mine pretty conservatively and generally transition to cruise climb at 28-30”mp as soon as possible. That still gives 700-900fpm all the way up to the flight levels and keeps CHTs at 400 deg. Hopefully this will translate into making it to TBO.

NA 206s are really hard to find right now.
 
3393RP said:
I'm always amused by negative comments about airplane prices. It infers the poster is more knowledgeable about the aircraft type, its options, condition, and market value than the seller is.
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Because a seller would never inflate the price, condition or options right?

$400,000 is a lot of coin to be throwing around.
 
Given the seller's market we have, suggest get the pre buy arranged. As I've learned from other wise ones on this board, assume you'll spend another $25000 - $50,000 or so once you get it to get things sorted out (WASS and whatnot). And then you'll need another $50,000 for an overhaul. I'm not saying the plane is bad / bad price. I think that's just the reality of costs these days.
 
Geosync said:
A 206 is a truck, good aircraft for hauling crap.
Zeldman said:
This is why the 206 is one of my favorites.
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Ballerinas they are not, but with the higher wing loads they are smooth and steady fliers. Terrific planes.

BTW not until recently checking dimensions of the 206 and 182, did I realize both planes are nearly the exact same length and wing span. Actually the 206 Stationair is about 9 inches shorter.
 
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NordicDave said:
Ballerinas they are not, but with the higher wing loads they are smooth and steady fliers. Terrific planes.

BTW not until recently checking dimensions of the 206 and 182, did I realize both planes are nearly the exact same length and wing span. Actually the 206 Stationair is about 9 inches shorter.
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I had no idea, the 206 gave me a distinct impression of a larger aircraft than the 182. Nice to know it will fit nicely into a T-hanger.
 
About 14 months ago I bought a 2007 T206H with the GFC700, and it has TKS, same system on the plane your looking at. I LOVE the plane but with the addition of TKS useful load goes way down. I cannot load four adults, 2 bags and 50 gal. of fuel w/o being over weight. I took the rear seat out, I will never be able to load 6 people in the plane, gives me 40 extra pounds. One lesson I learned on my first annual that would strongly point out is, on your pre-buy, have the TKS tank removed and inspected for leaks. 2 small leaks were found in my tank after being removed to access the oxygen tank (BTW, look at the date of your tank, I didn't 14 months ago when I bought it, cost $3,500 for tank and reg to be re-certified) . The leaks were from bad welds on the edges of the tank. Called the manufacture and was given two options, send tank in, transfer all lines, pumps ect. to new tank....wait for it....14K or send me a new tank off the shelf for 24K. Maintenance issues can kill you with all the systems on the plane. On a better point, Grant at Airmart where this plane your looking at is being offered is TOP notch. This is who I purchased my 206 from. He and his team made the whole buying experience/paperwork so easy. Grant even shared in a cost of a problem on the plane after I got it to home base in Ogden, UT. He did not have to do that. Very honest. I would highly recommend Airmart. Good luck
 
Ronop said:
About 14 months ago I bought a 2007 T206H with the GFC700, and it has TKS, same system on the plane your looking at. I LOVE the plane but with the addition of TKS useful load goes way down. I cannot load four adults, 2 bags and 50 gal. of fuel w/o being over weight. I took the rear seat out, I will never be able to load 6 people in the plane, gives me 40 extra pounds. One lesson I learned on my first annual that would strongly point out is, on your pre-buy, have the TKS tank removed and inspected for leaks. 2 small leaks were found in my tank after being removed to access the oxygen tank (BTW, look at the date of your tank, I didn't 14 months ago when I bought it, cost $3,500 for tank and reg to be re-certified) . The leaks were from bad welds on the edges of the tank. Called the manufacture and was given two options, send tank in, transfer all lines, pumps ect. to new tank....wait for it....14K or send me a new tank off the shelf for 24K. Maintenance issues can kill you with all the systems on the plane. On a better point, Grant at Airmart where this plane your looking at is being offered is TOP notch. This is who I purchased my 206 from. He and his team made the whole buying experience/paperwork so easy. Grant even shared in a cost of a problem on the plane after I got it to home base in Ogden, UT. He did not have to do that. Very honest. I would highly recommend Airmart. Good luck
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Thank you for that. Flew the plane today, very solid. Did a stall which was nothing at all. The crew at Airmart is very professional. I'd like to buy this plane. And very importantly my wife thought it was beautiful so there we have it. :)
 
Ronop said:
About 14 months ago I bought a 2007 T206H with the GFC700, and it has TKS, same system on the plane your looking at. I LOVE the plane but with the addition of TKS useful load goes way down. I cannot load four adults, 2 bags and 50 gal. of fuel w/o being over weight. I took the rear seat out, I will never be able to load 6 people in the plane, gives me 40 extra pounds. One lesson I learned on my first annual that would strongly point out is, on your pre-buy, have the TKS tank removed and inspected for leaks. 2 small leaks were found in my tank after being removed to access the oxygen tank (BTW, look at the date of your tank, I didn't 14 months ago when I bought it, cost $3,500 for tank and reg to be re-certified) . The leaks were from bad welds on the edges of the tank. Called the manufacture and was given two options, send tank in, transfer all lines, pumps ect. to new tank....wait for it....14K or send me a new tank off the shelf for 24K. Maintenance issues can kill you with all the systems on the plane. On a better point, Grant at Airmart where this plane your looking at is being offered is TOP notch. This is who I purchased my 206 from. He and his team made the whole buying experience/paperwork so easy. Grant even shared in a cost of a problem on the plane after I got it to home base in Ogden, UT. He did not have to do that. Very honest. I would highly recommend Airmart. Good luck
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Will include TKS in the pre-buy/annual. O2 tanked is to be tested / recertified so we can check TKS simultaneously. Did any TKS fluid leak into your plane or otherwise cause any damage ? Estimates on the WAAS upgrade are ~ 32K. We flew the RNAV in and there is no vertical guidance without WAAS. ILS is of course no problem, but the FAA seems to want to decommission them. I'm planning to compare what's available on Foreflight for RNAV and synthetic vision when I get a break this evening. Thoughts on other ways to get to WAAS appreciated.
 
$32k? For that I would think you could get a new G3 and a GTN 650 LOL You probably have your G1000 display as part of mandatory equipment - so you’re probably looking at the only option to be update the glass that’s in it. But IMHO you’ve got to have WASS
 
As someone looking into restart 182's I came to the conclusion to stay away from non WAAS G1000 units.
The issue is there is no WAAS upgrade path offered by Garmin and/or Textron. There is a high probability there will not be one offered in the future.
No WAAS means, No ability to upgrade to G1000Nxi.

What is worse is that the G1000 units already have issues with replacement/ repair parts (so I heard).

Basically it seems the options are:
find two used G63W and get WAAS, then upgrade to a G1000Nxi
explore route of making it an experimental and pull out the G1000

Regarding the price... well prices are what they are right now (many threads on that here) and may stay as high for another few years...

Last bit, I recently rented a WAAS G1000 equipped plane. While nice, it did not blow my mind and I think a G3x or G500Txi is better (combined with a GTN750, GFC500...)
 
Mid-time valve work on those big turbocharged Lycs is normal.

Couple of recent ADs that have the potential to be expensive:
https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_...2906b48286258178006891ae/$FILE/2017-16-11.pdf
https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_...08d310108625813e0048586e/$FILE/2017-11-10.pdf

I replaced part of the exhaust system as per that second AD. It wasn't cheap. $7K or so Canadian, which would be over $5K US. Make sure that this system has been inspected closely and that the Lycoming SB has been followed to the letter. Exhaust systems are not something to casually dismiss and you don't want to be the one stuck with fixing it. https://support.cessna.com/custsupt/contacts/pubs/ourpdf.pdf?as_id=48513

The G1000 should have the SVT already in it. There's a really fat fee for the card to unlock it.

The KAP140 runs off a turn coordinator hidden behind the panel, alongside the other standby instruments. One more mechanical instrument to take care of. I wish I knew why they didn't just mount it in a hole so it could be used as a standby. It's there anyway. Maybe it was an electric TC; I don't remember now. No good as a standby if it was.

The G1000 uses a sealed lead-acid battery, located behind the PFD, and it needs an annual capacity test. If it fails, the new one isn't cheap. Don't leave the standby battery switch off when flying, thinking you're saving it. You're not. It needs exercising. And if the power should suddenly fail, you're now waiting for the system to reboot if you left the switch off.

If it has the Amsafe shoulder harness airbag system, there are periodic replacements needed of some stuff like the sensor under the floor and the pressure cartridge under the seat, a little bomb that has something like 6000 psi in it. Disposal of the old ones can be a bit of a problem. We took ours to a quarry where they put it in the drill hole with the explosive and blew it up when blasting the rock.

These modern systems mean more maintenance. One has to consider that when buying.
 
Dan Thomas said:
Mid-time valve work on those big turbocharged Lycs is normal.

Couple of recent ADs that have the potential to be expensive:
https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_...2906b48286258178006891ae/$FILE/2017-16-11.pdf
https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_...08d310108625813e0048586e/$FILE/2017-11-10.pdf

I replaced part of the exhaust system as per that second AD. It wasn't cheap. $7K or so Canadian, which would be over $5K US. Make sure that this system has been inspected closely and that the Lycoming SB has been followed to the letter. Exhaust systems are not something to casually dismiss and you don't want to be the one stuck with fixing it. https://support.cessna.com/custsupt/contacts/pubs/ourpdf.pdf?as_id=48513

The G1000 should have the SVT already in it. There's a really fat fee for the card to unlock it.

The KAP140 runs off a turn coordinator hidden behind the panel, alongside the other standby instruments. One more mechanical instrument to take care of. I wish I knew why they didn't just mount it in a hole so it could be used as a standby. It's there anyway. Maybe it was an electric TC; I don't remember now. No good as a standby if it was.

The G1000 uses a sealed lead-acid battery, located behind the PFD, and it needs an annual capacity test. If it fails, the new one isn't cheap. Don't leave the standby battery switch off when flying, thinking you're saving it. You're not. It needs exercising. And if the power should suddenly fail, you're now waiting for the system to reboot if you left the switch off.

If it has the Amsafe shoulder harness airbag system, there are periodic replacements needed of some stuff like the sensor under the floor and the pressure cartridge under the seat, a little bomb that has something like 6000 psi in it. Disposal of the old ones can be a bit of a problem. We took ours to a quarry where they put it in the drill hole with the explosive and blew it up when blasting the rock.

These modern systems mean more maintenance. One has to consider that when buying.
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Great information thanks for forwarding. We will plan to get through all ADs at the coming annual. Standby battery switch operation noted. I need to get a copy of the POH. Over on the ABS forum it was suggested that Textron/Garmin may have an upgrade path now but we haven't found it yet (other than the GIA63W + software) as above. The 1975 C172 I fly has a great 430W providing vertical guidance on a small Garmin combo CDI/HSI/VS/ASI and I know that upgrade was <40K. Truth is we need a workhorse and would prefer not to start a lot of mods now. Non-WAAS will bring the MDA up of course w/no vert guidance to the KAP140, and I'm going to test synthetic vision on FF this week so we'll see. It might all be very doable.
 
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Just so you know: The AFM (POH) is serial-number specific and it's not cheap. The current owner should have one. The airplane came with it and it's supposed to be in the airplane (FAR 91.9).
 
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N444MD said:
Great information thanks for forwarding. We will plan to get through all ADs at the coming annual. Standby battery switch operation noted. I need to get a copy of the POH. Over on the ABS forum it was suggested that Textron/Garmin may have an upgrade path now but we haven't found it yet (other than the GIA63W + software) as above. The 1975 C172 I fly has a great 430W providing vertical guidance on a small Garmin combo CDI/HSI/VS/ASI and I know that upgrade was <40K. Truth is we need a workhorse and would prefer not to start a lot of mods now. Non-WAAS will bring the MDA up of course w/no vert guidance to the KAP140, and I'm going to test synthetic vision on FF this week so we'll see. It might all be very doable.
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If you want a .pdf copy of a T206H AFM for basic reference, I can send it to you. The one I have is revised for the GFC700 (SN# T20608682 through T20608705), but little else has changed.
 
Cervieres said:
If you want a .pdf copy of a T206H AFM for basic reference, I can send it to you. The one I have is revised for the GFC700 (SN# T20608682 through T20608705), but little else has changed.
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That would be great: flying at g mail.com. Thank You !
 
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Rick182 said:
Solid plane but lack of WAAS and the KAP140 are limitations to consider.
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Yes it is. There are several smaller airports in the area where we practice approaches that are RNAV only at this time, with plans to decommission ILS's at other locations.
 
NordicDave said:
Ballerinas they are not, but with the higher wing loads they are smooth and steady fliers. Terrific planes.

BTW not until recently checking dimensions of the 206 and 182, did I realize both planes are nearly the exact same length and wing span. Actually the 206 Stationair is about 9 inches shorter.
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Don't know whether that's so or not, but the interior off the 206 is a foot longer than the 182. Definitely a larger cabin as it has 6 seats.
 
The 1962 to 1967 C-210s are almost identical airplanes but 15 MPH faster and much, much cheaper . Very good ones around $60K. The 205/206 was developed from the C-210. 4 plus 2 seating. Also service ceiling is 21,000'. (Yes, that's mine in the pix.)
 
Snowmass said:
The 1962 to 1967 C-210s are almost identical airplanes but 15 MPH faster and much, much cheaper . Very good ones around $60K. The 205/206 was developed from the C-210. 4 plus 2 seating. Also service ceiling is 21,000'. (Yes, that's mine in the pix.)
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I like the car and the plane :). Simpler times for certain.
 
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