After an extended period at the paint shop, during which my 1976 Cessna 210L Centurion sat outside in the central Florida weather awaiting additional work for a few weeks, the airplane was finally finished. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised that the plane looked so great and I was eager to take it home.
I did a very careful preflight, checking all the movable surfaces for correct action, and I drained all the fuel sumps more than once. It seemed there was a noticeable amount of water in the fuel tanks, causing me to drain the sumps a few more times. When I fired up the engine after a rough start, it settled down and seemed to be producing power normally. I taxied out and departed without incident, and flew back to the airplane’s home base. A few days later, I took a local flight and once again checked the fuel for water. The engine ran well and my flight was uneventful, as were several subsequent local flights.
