Aircraft model
CESSNA 310C
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1959 Cessna 310, from the years of the straight tip tanks and the swept fin. It cruises at 180 knots on two 260 hp Continentals and seats five, and it was the aeroplane that established Cessna in the light twin market.
The fuel system is the thing a buyer must understand: fuel lives in wingtip tanks with auxiliary tanks optional, and the cross-feed and tank-selection rules are genuinely complicated — mismanagement is a recurring cause of accidents in the type and the checklist must be learned properly. Add ordinary light-twin economics: two six-cylinder engines and two propellers to overhaul, and an annual several times a single's. These are now sixty-five-year-old airframes, so corrosion and damage history dominate value.
What it is
| Seats | 5 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 2 |
| Engine | Continental O-470-M |
| Horsepower | 260 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1959 |
| Production end | 1959 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;multi-engine |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 180 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 800 nm |
| Service ceiling | 20,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,660 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 66 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,700 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 5 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,930 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,318 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 4,830 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,900 lb |
| Usable fuel | 102 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 29.1 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $60,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $160,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,500 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $40,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $55,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 256 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 58 |
| Median year built | 1959.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 0 per 1,000 active · base 58 active · thin base (low) |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 per 1,000 active · base 58 active · thin base (low) |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 20 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 34.48 per 100 active · base 58 active · thin base (low) |
| Airworthiness directives | 5 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
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 multi-engine, piston, 2 engines, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | — · class median 22.1 · 57 models in class |
| Severity | — · class median 25 |
| Access | — · class median 2,924.5 |
| Support | 5.1 of 10 · class median 57 |
| Liquidity | 9.7 of 10 · class median 21.42 |