Aircraft model
CESSNA 210H
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1968 Centurion. Engine, weights, seating and fuel are those of the 1967 aircraft: 285 hp Continental IO-520-A, 3,400 lb, six seats, 90 gallons. Cessna's changes for the year are equipment. The gear system is still the early one with main gear doors, which is the single most useful thing to establish about any 210 before buying it.
The 210 is the fastest way to move six people for the money and it has the maintenance bill to match. The retractable gear is the defining issue: it is complicated, it is hydraulic, the early systems have gear doors that add another set of things to go wrong, and a shop that does not know 210s will cost you more than one that does. Add the 2019 airworthiness directive on the carry-through spar to the pre-purchase list. Against that, a sorted 210 does a job that nothing else at the price will do.
Compare with…
Put CESSNA 210H side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 210H
What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental IO-520-A |
| Horsepower | 285 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1968 |
| Production end | 1968 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 167 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 760 nm |
| Service ceiling | 18,300 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,000 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 55 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,365 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,355 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,440 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 900 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,400 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,960 lb |
| Usable fuel | 90 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $95,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $275,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,700 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $48,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $68,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 91 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 38 |
| Median year built | 1968.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 52.63 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 52.63 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 17 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 44.74 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 6 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 38 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 38 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 38 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 1.4 of 103 |
| Support | 1.5 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 9.9 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.