AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013 - 68

The 206 was perfect for backcountry camping trips; he
could easily transport up to five passengers.

SPEC SHEET

Cessna 206
Continental IO-520F
285/300 horsepower

172s and 182s. Starting with the Cessna 205,
introduced in 1962, you have a six-seat,
fixed-gear airplane with a 260-horsepower Continental IO-470 engine that can
land virtually anywhere. In 1964, Cessna
added the 206: a 205 airframe with 15 additional horsepower, thanks to a Continental
IO-520 engine. Both models carry 65 gallons in standard fuel tanks, or 84 gallons if
equipped with long-range tanks.
Need still more range? Early model
Cessna 210s also have 65-gallon fuel capacity, but later model 210s (Centurions) carry
90 gallons—and the long-range tanks on
the 1986 210R Centurion hold 120 gallons.
But enough about fuel—let’s talk about
useful load. How does 1,500 to 1,800
pounds sound for the 205/206, depending
on the model? That’s a lot of fuel, people, and camping supplies. The massive
load capability is one of the reasons AOPA
chose a 1976 U206F for its Aero SUV 1999
Sweepstakes airplane.
The 205 can be tough to find in the preowned market, though we did see two 1963
models selling for $72,500 and $50,000,
respectively, on Controller.com in May. The
206 is in production today; prices for a new
turbocharged model exceed $500,000. In
the used market, Controller.com had listings starting at $89,900 for a 1972 U206F.

up to 6 passengers
65 gal
1,750 lbs
120 lbs
36 ft
28 ft 3 in
9 ft 4 in

A CESSNA 206 proved

its worth in the Idaho
backcountry (above).
A Bonanza S35 is at home
in Montana’s backcountry
(right).
68 | AOPA PILOT November 2013

“My buddy’s got a TBM 700 that we fly around in,”
Applegate says. “It’s going to have essentially the same
avionics. I just won’t go as fast.” Or spend as much on
fuel; Applegate says he saw cruise speeds of 140 knots
at 15 gph when he picked up the airplane in Wisconsin
and flew it home to Morris, Illinois.
Even though he says he could have flown the Six
another 20 years just the way it was, Applegate is
pleased with the results of its transformation. “It’s the
way I want the airplane and that’s the way I want to
keep it.” He estimates he’ll have spent about $144,000
on an airplane that, new, would cost over a half-million dollars.
CESSNA: LOTS OF OPTIONS. When you move up in the
Cessna line, there are several options beyond four-seat

A FORMER OWNER MISSES HIS 206. Mike
Hart of Idaho Falls, Idaho, purchased a
1966 T206A in 2011 for $110,000. He had
practical business reasons for acquiring
such a workhorse—his communications
agency had won a contract to take aerial
photos of a nuclear power plant to be constructed in the state, and he planned to use
it as a photo platform.
He also had personal reasons. Hart’s
wife is “slightly claustrophobic,” he says,
and hadn’t enjoyed flying with him in their
previous airplane—an early model, somewhat narrow Cessna 182. What’s more, Hart
says, the 206 was perfect for backcountry
camping trips; he could easily transport up
to five passengers plus a weekend’s worth of
camping gear, water, food, and lawn chairs.
He later removed the two rear seats so as to
increase the amount of baggage space.
“I definitely did several full-gross
trips in the backcountry,” Hart says of the
206, which he once flew into a 1,000-foot
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AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013

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