I bought a new Cardinal RG in 1976 and, while I liked the airplane, my mission changed. I had been living in Little Rock, Arkansas, working for Flying, and the general aviation business of that day was concentrated in the middle of the country. My average jaunt was about 300 nm. In 1977, I moved to New York and suddenly all those easy-to-reach places from Little Rock were many miles farther away.
That sent me looking for something faster. I had always wanted a 210, available then, in 1979, with boots and radar. I decided that I wanted either a normally aspirated or pressurized airplane. The turbocharged model had little appeal because I wasn’t going to use oxygen on a regular basis.
