Overview
The C-210 was one of the highest performance single engine piston engine aircrafts of its time and still remains one of the top performers. For this reason, the 210 needs to be flown with care and precision. This document will take you through the nuances of flying this amazing plane and how to do it as safely.
The larger engine, retractable gear, and handling characteristics associated with the high performance wing requires considerable attention to detail in flight operations, and should not be taken lightly by pilots upgrading from smaller Cessna aircrafts!
The high accident rate of the C-210 is statistically blamed on pilot error generally attributed to fuel mismanagement, unsafe IFR operations, gear-up landings, botched landings, and poor ground handling accounting for 85% of the accidents.
The “high performance” aspects have two main considerations to flight operations.
- Low-speed handling characteristics
- High-speed handling characteristics
Low-Speed Handling
The C-210 contains a relatively sharp drag curve, often blamed on the laminar flow wing. This characteristic means it is much less forgiving than most single-engine Cessna types in low-speed operations.
When flown only slightly below reference speed the aircraft seems to drop out of the sky and can require drastic recovery methods to regain profile. Conversely if flown slightly too fast, the aircraft is difficult to slow down and tends to float during the flare. Runway over runs await the improperly prepared pilot. Forcing the aircraft onto the ground in response to this situation leads to a bounce which leads to a porpoise. This has left numerous inadequately trained pilots with a collapsed nose gear or worse.
The sharp drag curve also requires special care on takeoff, particularly where maximum performance is required. Retraction of gear or flaps at minimum speeds will cause significant increases in drag when the aircraft is suddenly moved to the steep “back-side” of the drag curve. This can mean a marginally performing aircraft is now not performing and, if already at full power, height must be sacrificed to regain necessary speed for climbing. Lifting off at too low a speed also results in little or no climb performance.
High-Speed Handling
On the opposite side of the performance curve, The C-210 was one of the fastest single-engine aircrafts in its time. The additional speed can take an unwary pilot by surprise if unprepared.
Approach planning, which may have developed bad habits in more forgiving aircraft, requires considerable attention to prevent dangerous profiles, engine mishandling, and unnecessary go-arounds.
Plan speed reductions well in advance, and ensure you know exactly where you want to be at what height and speed when joining the pattern to avoid subjecting yourself or the engine to the results of bad handling.
Systems Management
The last factor to consider in flying the C-210 that requires a major change from single-engine operations is the addition of the retractable gear. Insurance requirements for retractable aircraft dictate that they are a trap for pilots with low retractable time, the overconfident and careless, and pilots with poorly developed checks and routines.
Being unable to avoid the first risk category, it becomes necessary to work on your attitude and operating procedures as much as possible and be aware of the danger to avoid in the other categories as you build time and become more confident in the aircraft.
One of the main causes of gear problem accidents is that pilots tend to forget to fly the aircraft when dealing with gear problems. When experiencing a gear problem, the aircraft should be flown to a safe area and altitude, away from the airport pattern and busy airspace where the problem can be dealt with in a safe manner.
Engine Handling Tips
Cracked cylinders, the most expensive and operationally inconvenient result of poor engine management, are generally caused by rapid heating or cooling, often termed “shock cooling and shock heating”. Both are caused by the inadequate time allowed for changes in temperature.
More is spoken about shock cooling mainly because in flight the approximately 150 KTS of cooling, airflow over the cylinders means careless reductions in power can much more rapidly result in sudden temperature losses than increased power, and also because of pilots more naturally think of taking care during power increases, but forget the serious damage that can occur by uneven contraction of the metals in the engine during temperature reductions.
Application of Power
Ensure temperatures have risen to acceptable levels and never take off with oil or cylinder temperatures below the green arc.
Apply power smoothly and slowly taking approximately 5 seconds to reach full power while monitoring temperatures and pressures.
Power Changes
Always make gradual power changes, planning how much power you require for the desired effect. If you want to reduce speed by 5 KTS on approach, reduce power 2 or 3 inches and wait for the desired effect, rather than removing 5 inches and then needing to add 3 inches when you get to the desired speed.
This method requires anticipation and with a little practice, it will improve your situational awareness with regard to speed and profile on approach.
If a large power change is required, it should be stopped. When reducing from 23″ to 15″ first reduce to 20″ for a few minutes then to 18″ for a few minutes to allow cooling the reduce to 15 inches.
Power during Descents
Descent planning should be done with two points in mind. Speed management and engine management.
A descent combines increased speed, with reduced power, and richening of the mixture. All three contribute to engine cooling and therefore very important for engine management.
Start power reduction before the beginning of the descent and finish before the end of the descent. The last power reduction occurs before the end of the descent to allow speed stabilization before reaching pattern altitude or whichever phase of flight the descent ends at.
The most important part of descent planning is to allow sufficient time. Too little time will result in an over-speed and also require large reductions in power to achieve the required effect.
A good rule of thumb is to allow at least 3 minutes or 5 miles per 1000 ft of descent and per l inch of manifold pressure. Plan ahead to arrive at pattern altitude with 18 to 20 inches manifold pressure and 120 to 130kts with the gear down.
Mixture Changes
Over richening of the mixture during the descent will provide extra cooling to the cylinders through the extra fuel introduced. Fear of a lean cut often leads pilots to err on the rich side during descents.
A good rule of thumb is one turn per 1000 ft preferably at intermediate times to when power reductions are made. When an EGT is installed it should be monitored to maintain a slightly lower reading than when in cruise.
This way the gradual reduction of the power will lead to a gradual enrichment of the mixture. Sometimes the procedure of selecting full rich on downwind is erroneously taught in preparation for a possible missed approach. At this point, the engine may be producing near cruise power and the introduction of a full rich mixture will cause sudden and unnecessary engine cooling. A better method is to select full rich on short final when power is at a minimum.
Cowl Flaps
Cowl flaps should be used to allow the maximum amount of time for engine temperature changes, to maintain CHT at 2/3 of the green operating ranges, and also to avoid excessively high temperatures. Avoid the temptation to open or close cowl flaps to expedite engine temperature changes for this reason.
Cowl flaps should “not” be closed for the initial warm-up of a cold engine! This practice will cause uneven temperature distribution which can reduce engine life.
Think of cowl flaps as part of the power quadrant. Whenever a change of power is selected it should be made from right to left for increasing power beginning with the cowl flaps and ending with throttle application. For power, reductions finish with the cowl flaps only after setting the throttle, pitch, and mixture moving from left to right.