6 Seat Cessna's

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Mtns2Skies

Final Approach
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Mtns2Skies
No, this isn't serious plane shopping. I'm keeping my Skywagon, I just like to window shop sometimes... just don't tell my plane. With that caveat out of the way:

In this theoretical (non-existant) world where I'm buying another plane, the naturally aspirated 206H fits my mission pretty much exactly. That being said, they're also really, really expensive. However an unpressurized, naturally aspirated 337 also fits that same mission pretty well, and for the difference in price, that pays for a LOT of maintenance. Not to mention that they're faster and have better visibility, albeit the 206 is cheaper to maintain and more rugged.

Let's say I'd have to finance the 206, but could buy the 337 outright but wouldn't have much of a Mx reserve depending on the model. Which one makes more sense?
 
When I was younger I coveted the Skymaster. When I got to where I could afford one, I talked to an owner that my partner was acquainted with. There's a reason they are relatively cheap, he told me. If you can afford the maintenance, and have someone familiar with them, and don't mind chasing some oddball parts (hopefully you won't break anything 337-specific!) it could be fun. I also looked into a 206, and yikes on the prices, even for oldies.
I'd hang out on an owner's group board for a month before even considering an "oddball" plane (though the way business went in 2020, I may never again own one.)
 
Kenny Phillips said:
When I was younger I coveted the Skymaster. When I got to where I could afford one, I talked to an owner that my partner was acquainted with. There's a reason they are relatively cheap, he told me. If you can afford the maintenance, and have someone familiar with them, and don't mind chasing some oddball parts (hopefully you won't break anything 337-specific!) it could be fun. I also looked into a 206, and yikes on the prices, even for oldies.
I'd hang out on an owner's group board for a month before even considering an "oddball" plane (though the way business went in 2020, I may never again own one.)
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Other than cowlings what kinds of parts are to find, most of the aircraft is sheet stock.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
...In this theoretical (non-existant) world where I'm buying another plane, the naturally aspirated 206H fits my mission pretty much exactly...
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You like to live a LOT more dangerously than I dare.
Based on the 3:1 vote results of this poll shouldn't this theoretical (non-existent) world where you're buying another plane be focused on something with, maybe, 2 seats? :oops:
Just sayin'
(and remember, these are your so-called PoA friends weighing in and allegedly trying to help you out) :D

https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/com...ce-mtns2skies-to-buy-another-airplane.129822/

Mtns2Skies said:
...That being said, they're also really, really expensive. However an unpressurized, naturally aspirated 337 also fits that same mission pretty well, and for the difference in price, that pays for a LOT of maintenance. Not to mention that they're faster and have better visibility, albeit the 206 is cheaper to maintain and more rugged.

Let's say I'd have to finance the 206, but could buy the 337 outright but wouldn't have much of a Mx reserve depending on the model. Which one makes more sense?
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FWIW, the rather large difference in price between piston twins and retractable singles in the aftermath of the financial crisis (and $150 per bbl oil) is what caused me to look at them closely and ultimately choose the Aztec over a high performance single. At the time, just because fuel prices were so high, the price difference between almost every piston twin (including Barons) and something like an A36 Bonanza (which is what I used to covet until I sat in one) was astronomical. The twin I bought is a far more capable and comfortable travelling machine than an A36. I know in the last 8 years I've done a lot more flying over terrain, in weather conditions and to places I would never have considered taking even a de-iced single.

Two considerations:
1) The fixed gear 336 might be a better comparison with the 206.
2) When I bought oil/avgas prices were high and set to fall; today its the opposite.

ktup-flyer said:
Just buy an Aztec
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:yeahthat:

bbchien said:
...Deafening interior.
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I've always had difficulty imagining being sandwiched between two engines, fore and aft. :(
 
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I know I’m in the minority, but I too am tempted by the 337. Loud as crap from what I’m told. I try to listen to the people with decades more experience than me (just bought a Bonanza!), but I wonder how many parts are impossible/expensive to find. Not buying/just intrigued.
 
My guess is, the cheaper acquisition cost of the 337 and the extra Mx reserves, would probably equal, if not outweigh the 206, even though you’d have to finance it. I’d go for the 206!
 
RyanB said:
My guess is, the cheaper acquisition cost of the 337 and the extra Mx reserves, would probably equal, if not outweigh the 206, even though you’d have to finance it. I’d go for the 206!
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I agree with this.
 
RyanB said:
My guess is, the cheaper acquisition cost of the 337 and the extra Mx reserves, would probably equal, if not outweigh the 206, even though you’d have to finance it. I’d go for the 206!
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The 206 will also hold its value and be easier to resell in the future.
 
The 206 would make me a happy man,now all I need is the money.
 
bbchien said:
Deafening interior.
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The only scare master I have flown was a pressurized Riley Rocket conversion. Nice interior and almost quiet enough to go without headsets, but the air conditioner had a little trouble keeping up until at altitude.

The owner always flew with a second pilot on board because you needed someone to work the emergency checklist while the other flew.
 
Zeldman said:
The only scare master I have flown was a pressurized Riley Rocket conversion. Nice interior and almost quiet enough to go without headsets, but the air conditioner had a little trouble keeping up until at altitude...
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If you plan to suffer through the ownership of a 337, this is what you want to own. :thumbsup:
 
206 all day long. You’ll pay off the 206 well before you run out of mx needs on the 337.
 
A friend told the local A&P that he thought the 337 he was working on was a cool plane. The A&P told him he was an idiot.
 
Get a 206 and call it a day. You never know when you might need to haul some payload into a short dirt strip.
 
Here's another 6 seat Cessna for consideration: :D

The Mustang is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a swept wing, T-tail and retractable tricycle gear. One main door is located in the forward left section of the aircraft, with an additional emergency exit on the center right section of the fuselage. The Mustang, in standard configuration, has four passenger seats in the aft cabin and seating for two in the cockpit.


220px-Cessna_510_Citation_Mustang_AN1991279.jpg



Tantalum said:
https://www.pilotweb.aero/features/flight-tests/piper-pa-23-250-aztec-flight-test-1-6886633
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"...Like a trusted friend and a Toyota Land Cruiser, the Aztec is reliable and dependable..."

Chuckling.
I owned a 7-passenger Toyota Land Bruiser the 8 years I lived in the Middle East.
Why? Same reason as the Aztec...big, comfortable, carried darn near anything and always got me home.
 
Tantalum said:
Allegedly Piper thought about making a monster Super Aztec with 8 cylinder IO570!

Does anything like this exist? Was there ever an STC for it?

https://www.pilotweb.aero/features/flight-tests/piper-pa-23-250-aztec-flight-test-1-6886633
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Roger Peperell's exhaustive history of Piper designs mentions that an early proposal for what eventually became the Aztec would have used 390 hp, eight-cylinder IO-720 engines (similar to the engine later used in the Comanche 400). There was also a proposal for an enlarged "Executive Aztec", with tapered wings, a completely redesigned fuselage with separate passenger compartment and conference-style seatng, and the aforementioned IO-720s. Neither ever made it past the talking stage. In the early 1970s Piper did build and fly a PA-41P Pressurized Aztec with 270 hp IO-540s. They soon realized the Aztec's slab-sided fuselage made a lousy pressure vessel, and the project was dropped.
 
Whoa...whoa.....the 337 is not a 6 seat aircraft. I don't care what "the book" says, have you ever looked inside one? There's barely room for a 152 jump seat back there.
Nothing against Skymasters, per se, they have their niche, but you have to be realistic about seating capacity.
 
Just put six seats in your 180. Plus extended baggage and cargo pod!

Plus the Kenmore gross weight increase (which is a joke)
 
Are there any legit 6-place piston singles with room (let alone UL) for 6 non-children? Maybe Cherokee 6/Lance/Saratoga, I guess.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
Are there any legit 6-place piston singles with room (let alone UL) for 6 non-children? Maybe Cherokee 6/Lance/Saratoga, I guess.
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Those, and the -36 series Bonanzas, and Cessna 206, are about it. Unless you want to go slightly "exotic", Gipps Aerovan, Beaver, etc.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
No maybe about it. My Lance carries 6 with relative ease.
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But the Saratoga does not.. I mean it's big enough but the UL on new ones effectively makes it a basic four-seater
 
Between those two, such an easy choice, the 206. A more difficult choice would have been between a 206 that a 12 story building fell on, and a 337.
 
Jim Carpenter said:
Those, and the -36 series Bonanzas, and Cessna 206, are about it. Unless you want to go slightly "exotic", Gipps Aerovan, Beaver, etc.
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The -36 series Bonanzas are not a 6-place airplane...unless the only place you plan to take 6 adults is twice around the pattern. And even then you better find a couple of lightweight friends for the two rearmost seats.

IMG_0536.JPG
 
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I have lots of time in older 206s, albeit the turbo version, and no time in 337s, but I'm still voting for the 206. Great workhorse.

Interesting that they are expensive. I remember when my boss sold the company 206 for a $12,000 cash in a suitcase. The buyer said they were going to haul trees. ;)

Of course it had a run-out engine and a number of other problems...

A little bit of detective works shows that it's still flying, or in one piece with flat tires, in Medellin, Colombia...

30441_1605145001.jpg
 
1) Isn't there some sort of AD out on the 206 which functionally makes many of them 5 seats now? Or, at least, it is advisable to keep them at 5 for safety purposes?

2) 206s are rather slow for something with that fuel burn.
 
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