AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 80

THE CESSNA WING hangs on in slow flight

and stalls slower than the Bonanza. This
is true with flaps and landing gear up or
down. During a constant deceleration,
flying wing tip to wing tip, the Bonanza
stalls first.

It's an almost exact replay of the first
effort. The airplanes hold altitude with
ever-increasing pitch attitudes. Then the
Bonanza stalls first, this time with a slightly
sharper stall break and left wing drop.
Advantage Centurion.
The final test is a flat-out speed dash
at an altitude of 7,500 feet msl. (Due to the
high outside air temperature, the density
altitude is more than 9,000 feet.) The two
contestants are flying side by side about
one mile behind the photo ship; then, on
the Bonanza pilot's signal, they go to full
throttle at their maximum continuous
propeller rpm. Both airplanes accelerate smoothly to about 178 KIAS, but the
Centurion takes a slight lead of about five
airplane lengths and maintains it as they
streak ahead of the photo ship in less than
a minute. We repeat the speed run again
with precisely the same result. Winner,
Centurion.
WHAT IF

After landing, Provence, the Centurion
pilot, is gleeful at his favored airplane's
clean sweep.
"I knew the 210 could take off and land
shorter, and I truly believed it was faster,
80 | AOPA PILOT December 2017

too, so it's good to see all that confirmed,"
he said. "I absolutely love this airplane."
Provence says the Centurion gained
both speed and efficiency from the
TruAtlantic engine conversion. "It's about
12 knots faster in cruise than it used to be,"
he said. "It climbs better, and it can fly lean
of peak at about 12 gallons an hour going 167
knots true. It's a different airplane."
Predictably, the results did nothing
to change the minds of Bonanza aficionados. Roes still prefers the A36, but admits a
grudging respect for the Centurion.
"The 210 is a workhorse, and it carries
a heavy load," he said. "But it doesn't have
the grace and refinement of a Bonanza, and
it never will."
The postflight analysis devolved into
hypothetical "what-if" discussions centering on two airplanes' engines. What if the

Bonanza didn't have tip tanks? What if the
Centurion and Bonanza both were equipped
with upgraded IO-550s? (TruAtlantic offers
an IO-550R engine for the Bonanza.) What
if the Centurion had its original IO-520?
What if the Bonanza had an IO-520 like earlier A36 models?
This line of inquiry, of course, leads
nowhere. The surprising conclusion of this
contest was that in a battle of big-engine sixseaters, a modified Centurion not only holds
its own against a stock, IO-550-powered
A36. It beats it.
AOPA
Special thanks to pilots Jeff Provence, Mike
Roes, Dan Brennan, Don Ramm, John Knolla,
and John Flippen for their skill and expertise
in making this fly-off happen.
EMAIL dave.hirschman@aopa.org

Fuel capacity:

114 gallons usable 89 gallons usable
Bonanza

Centurion



AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017

Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - Intro
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - Cover1
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - Cover2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - Contents
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 2
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 4
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 5
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 6
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 7
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 8
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 9
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 10
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 11
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 12
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 13
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 14
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 15
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 16
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 17
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 18
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 19
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 20
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 21
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 22
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 23
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 24
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 25
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 26
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 27
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 28
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 29
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 30
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 31
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 32
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 33
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 34
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 35
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 36
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 37
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 38
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 39
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 40
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 41
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 42
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 43
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 45
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 46
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 47
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 48
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 49
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 70
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 71
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 77
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 78
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 79
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 100
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - 112
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - Cover3
AOPA Pilot Magazine - December 2017 - Cover4
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