Aircraft model
CESSNA 210M
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1977 Centurion, from the mature years of the type: cantilever wing with no struts, six seats, 300 hp and a 1,550 lb useful load. It is one of very few piston singles that will genuinely carry six people and fuel, and it has been used for family travel, light charter and utility work for fifty years.
The first question on any 210 is the 2020 airworthiness directive requiring wing spar carry-through inspection, issued after a fatal in-flight wing separation; compliance status and findings materially affect both airworthiness and value. The landing gear remains complicated — the 1979 model year deleted the main gear doors and simplified it, so a 210M still has the earlier arrangement. The IO-520 burns 16 to 17 gallons an hour and has a crankcase cracking history on high-time engines.
Compare with…
Put CESSNA 210M side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 210M
What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Continental IO-520-L |
| Horsepower | 300 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1977 |
| Production end | 1978 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 165 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 800 nm |
| Service ceiling | 17,300 ft |
| Climb rate | 950 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 58 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,900 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,500 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,550 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,010 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,800 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,250 lb |
| Usable fuel | 90 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $170,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $300,000 |
| 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 | 383 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 123 |
| Median year built | 1977.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 6 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 48.781 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 40.652 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 17 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 13.823 |
| Airworthiness directives | 5 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 123 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 123 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 123 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 3 of 103 |
| Support | 6.1 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 2.3 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 38.14 · 75 models in class.
- Severity: class median 10.
- Access: class median 1,826.5.
- Support: class median 74.
- Liquidity: class median 17.96.
- 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.