Cessna 206 Stationair

FLYING Staff

Wednesday, August 10, 2005 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Cessna 206

Key Takeaways:

The Cessna 206, with roots tracing back to the 1963 Cessna 205, has evolved through various models and engine changes, transitioning from a utility aircraft to one primarily favored for business and personal use today.
Modern 206s are highly regarded for their exceptional full-fuel payload capacity, effectively accommodating four people with baggage over considerable distances, and come equipped with advanced features like the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit and optional TKS ice protection.
Pilots praise the 206 for its "friendly flying" characteristics, including excellent roll control, effective flaps for short-field performance, and robust spring-steel landing gear suitable for various surfaces.

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I told our son on the phone that I was going to fly a new 206. He asked if that wasn’t the airplane we flew to Alabama on his first birthday. It was. He will be 41 in August. The 206 has been around for a long time. The biggest change over time, up until now, was the switch from a Continental to a Lycoming engine. This occurred when the airplane went back into production in 1998, after a hiatus of 12 years in which Cessna stopped building piston-powered airplanes.

There were other changes and the airplane actually has an interesting history.