Aircraft model
CESSNA 310F
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 1961 310, and the first one most people would recognise as the modern shape: swept fin, a pointed nose with more room in it, and an extra pair of cabin windows. Underneath, the important change had already happened two years earlier — fuel injection. The 260 hp Continental IO-470-D replaced the carburetted O-470 and took cruise from about 178 to about 191 knots on roughly the same fuel. 155 were built. Maximum takeoff weight is 4,830 lb.
This is where the early 310 becomes a genuinely useful aeroplane rather than a handsome one, and prices reflect it. The injected Continental is more efficient and less prone to carburettor ice but harder to start hot, which catches out pilots coming from carburetted engines. Everything else is the familiar bargain: two engines and a retractable gear for the price of a tired single, with the running costs of neither. The tip-tank fuel system still has to be managed actively and is still the thing that most often turns a 310 flight into an accident report.
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Put CESSNA 310F side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 310F
What it is
| Seats | 5 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 2 |
| Engine | Continental IO-470-D |
| Horsepower | 260 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1961 |
| Production end | 1961 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;multi-engine |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 191 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 678 nm |
| Service ceiling | 21,300 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,800 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 73 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,395 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,720 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 5 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,781 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,169 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 4,830 lb |
| Empty weight | 3,049 lb |
| Usable fuel | 102 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 29.1 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $60,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $245,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,500 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $42,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $58,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 153 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 41 |
| Median year built | 1961.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 48.78 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 0 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 5 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 12.2 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 5 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 41 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 41 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 41 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing multi-engine, piston, 2 engines, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 8.9 of 103 |
| Support | 2.8 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 0.7 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 28.74 · 56 models in class.
- Severity: class median 33.33.
- Access: class median 2,812.25.
- Support: class median 57.
- Liquidity: class median 21.91.
- 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.