Aircraft model
CESSNA 310R
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The 310R, built from 1975, is the final and most capable version of the type: 285 hp a side, a longer nose with a large baggage compartment, and about 195 knots. It seats six and has been used extensively for air taxi and small freight work as well as private travel. Of all the 310s this is the one to want.
The cautions are unchanged and worth repeating. The tip-tank fuel system with optional auxiliary and locker tanks is complicated and has caused accidents; the sequencing rules must be learned. The IO-520 engines are powerful, thirsty at roughly 30 gallons an hour combined, and carry a documented crankcase cracking history on higher-time examples. A light-twin annual is expensive before anything is found. Single-engine performance is acceptable but demands currency and discipline, which is where most light-twin accidents originate. Insurance requires a multi-engine rating, time in type and usually annual recurrent training for an owner-pilot.
Compare with…
Put CESSNA 310R side by side with up to two other models.
- CESSNA 310R
What it is
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 2 |
| Engine | Continental IO-520-MB |
| Horsepower | 285 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1975 |
| Production end | 1980 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;multi-engine |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 195 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 900 nm |
| Service ceiling | 19,750 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,662 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 69 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,662 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,790 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 6 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 2,125 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,513 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 5,500 lb |
| Empty weight | 3,375 lb |
| Usable fuel | 102 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 31.9 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $90,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $260,000 |
| 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 | 887 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 361 |
| Median year built | 1976.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 16 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 44.321 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 36.012 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 90 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 24.933 |
| Airworthiness directives | 6 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 361 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 361 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 361 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing multi-engine, piston, 2 engines, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 2.9 of 101 |
| Severity | 5.1 of 102 |
| Access | 2.6 of 103 |
| Support | 9.3 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 27.2 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 22.1 · 57 models in class.
- Severity: class median 25.
- Access: class median 2,924.5.
- Support: class median 57.
- Liquidity: class median 21.42.
- 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.