Aircraft model
CESSNA 210R
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The last Centurion. Cessna built 112 of them in 1985 and 1986 before the piston singles stopped, and the 210R is the most developed version of the airframe: 300 hp Continental IO-520-L, 3,850 lb maximum weight, and the strutless cantilever wing the type had carried since 1967. It is also the one with the fewest airframe hours on average, simply because it is the youngest.
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. On a 210R the age argument cuts the other way from most of this list: these are the aircraft most likely to have had a settled ownership and a complete logbook set, and they price accordingly. The 2019 spar airworthiness directive still applies.
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 | 1985 |
| Production end | 1986 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 170 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 600 nm |
| Service ceiling | 16,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,060 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 53 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 2,050 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,585 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,630 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,108 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,850 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,220 lb |
| Usable fuel | 87 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $280,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $420,000 |
| 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 | 21 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 1 |
| Median year built | — |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 0 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 5 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 1 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores
A score runs from 0 to 10 within the model's peer class: a position, not a grade, and the six are never added together.
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | — · class median 51.28 · 73 models in class |
| Severity | — · class median 16.67 |
| Access | — · class median 1,771.5 |
| Support | 0.8 of 10 · class median 81 |
| Liquidity | — · class median 17.96 |