FLYING's Air Compare: Cessna 206 vs. Cessna 210

A showdown between two high-wing utility haulers.

Friday, May 26, 2023 at 12:18 PM ET

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The earliest models of the 206 and 210 had significant overlap, visually and in terms of their capabilities. [Credit: Jim Stevenson]

Key Takeaways:

The Cessna 206 (fixed-gear) and 210 (retractable-gear) were introduced in the 1960s to serve the large, high-performance single-engine market, both offering substantial payload and predictable flight characteristics.
The 210 underwent significant evolutions, including a cantilever wing and pressurization, but its retractable landing gear and associated complexity result in higher maintenance costs and insurance premiums compared to the 206.
Despite a higher acquisition cost, the market currently favors the fixed-gear 206 for its simplicity, reliability, and lower operational expenses, making it more desirable than the faster but more complex 210.

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The mid-1950s were an interesting time for Cessna. The taildragger era was drawing to a close, tricycle gear was taking over, and the marketing team was hard at work identifying and addressing gaps in their product offerings. The small trainer role was evolving from the 120 and 140 to the 150, and the light four-place role was evolving from the 170 to the 172 and 182. This left the question of what to do for the larger, higher-performance single-engine market.

After Cessna discontinued production of the big radial-powered 190 and 195 taildraggers in 1954, the company was left with the 180 and 185 to fill that category and saw there would be a market for large, capable piston singles with tricycle gear. Their solution? The retractable-gear 210, introduced in 1960, and the fixed-gear 206, introduced as the 205 in 1962, and in earnest as the 206 in 1964.