Cessna 207 anyone??

[SuperchargedRS]

Anyone have any experience with these things?

I'm looking at flying a mid 70s 207 with the belly pod, HSI, GPS. Will be flying it right at mx gross long x-country. Anything to keep in mind flying this bird?

Thanks

[208Drvr]

Watch the weight in the very back. if taking passengers put one in the cojoe seat first then load the rest of the passengers. dont forget the front baggage compartment it can help move the CofG forward.

you got the 550 in it?

dont let it get too far below 90 on final and fly it onto the runway, dont chop it.

[alti2d]

Careful about the rear loading is correct.... you'll know you're a little far back when it starts to tip onto its tail. With the extended length flying empty, you do have more leverage for landing and can easily land power off versus the C206, where I've found it possible to run out of elevator in the flare.

Have fun!

[SuperchargedRS]

Yea, it's the 550, we wont be running any seats in the A/C as we have about 1200lbs of cargo and a pilot and one pax. Any thoughts on the belly pod vs interior for loading?

[angry inch]

I only flew a 206 with the belly pod. It (the 206 pod) was good for 300 lbs and put the C of G in a much happier place on a fully loaded plane when you utilized it... (as long as you stick to the proper MTOW) Not sure how much you can take in the forward compartment. Sounds like you have good options for loading.

Good Luck

[rigpiggy]

load some heavy stuff in the nose, load the heaviest just behind the front seat, and work your way back. If the tail hits the ground, without the front seat meat. just make sure it comes off the ground when you get in, before you start up. don't forget to change the tanks every 15 mins, maybe get a kitchen timer as a reminder.

[ScudRunner]

Where are you going to be flying it? if its the mountains good luck with that.

good old Kansas City Crowd Killer, lots of fun and you better know how to use the rudder pedals or it will bite you in the ass.

[flyinthebug]

Where are you going to be flying it? if its the mountains good luck with that.

good old Kansas City Crowd Killer, lots of fun and you better know how to use the rudder pedals or it will bite you in the ass.

We used to call them "crowd killers" as well. Just not the Kansas City part.
Either way, we had a couple of them and as has been said, watch your CofG and ensure you get the heavy stuff in the nose and directly behind the front seats. An aft CofG on this aircraft, will bite you in the a$$. Shes an overgrown 206 with the same limited performance (even with the 550..and our 206 was still underpowered with a 550 & Whipline conversion). It was named the "crowd killer" for a reason. Fly safe, avoid the rocks!

[SuperchargedRS]

We will be flying from the far north east to the far south west of the US. I'll be sure to keep the CG as forward as possible, so front storage then behind the front seats? Is this keeping in mind the pod?

[rigpiggy]

our old 206 had a gross of 3600#, so with 1200#+pilot, you should only have about 4-500#fuel. Be sure you stay at or below "legal gross weight", lest density altitude or stupidity causes a problem.

[flyinthebug]

We will be flying from the far north east to the far south west of the US. I'll be sure to keep the CG as forward as possible, so front storage then behind the front seats? Is this keeping in mind the pod?

Maine - Arizona kinda idea? Not too many "big" rocks enroute so thats good.

The pod installed on ours was seemingly set up correctly and therefore allowed for rearward loading as well (depending on cabin config). But I always did a "visual" check to see where the approx CofG was and loaded accordingly. Load the nose first, then the pod (heavier stuff towards front), then behind front seats etc. I didnt mean to alarm you, they fly ok. They are seriously just an 8 seat 206, which limits it performance even more then a 206. Its a dog and if your tail heavy, it will become a handful in a hurry (after you burn off 1.5 hrs fuel...because of its length it kinda sneaks up on you). Otherwise its just another Cessna. Have a great flight!

*edit for ps*... many of the 207 accidents that used to occur were a result of an improper (aft) CofG. I flew one tail heavy once and the controls were mush(particularly the rudders). I just remember that was stressed in groundschool on that particular model, and I know it was something we always paid close attention to, was loading our 207. Keep the heavy stuff up front, and you`ll have no issues with the CofG.

[208Drvr]

With the amount of space you have inside the 207 i dont see a need for the cargo pod, as it will reduce your speed more that the amount of weight it can take down there unless you are carrying bulky stuff then you might want it to through small stuff in. the cargo pod does not increase the max weight of 3800 just adds drag.

The 207 we had with a 550 in it cruised at around 140 knots fully loaded with a 25/25 power setting.

[oldncold]

3/points

a) if you are empty with full gas say ferrying some where then you could approach the forward c-g limit especially if the survival equip./operational junk is in the nose locker(baggage area)
b) remember to trim and if that doesn't work properly be sure to get that fixed pronto.
c) if ya can get ahold of your actual weight n balance report for the a/c, for about 75/ $ seegee can zip up a wiz wheel . This sure takes the guess work out of long hand calculations and if ya ever get a ramp check ya won't look silly especialy when inpector goes "how did ya figure it out " well inspector here,ya just pull out the whiz wheel.
also is a great fast way for late additions or subtractions to the load. have a SAFE summer

[chancellor]

I would recommend that unless you actually need it remove the belly pod. Or limit the weight greatly in it. I flew one with the pod and it was an absolute dog. It was always much better only carrying the freight you could see. ie main cabin and the nose compartment. C of G was fairly simple rest the aircraft on its tail with a couple cases of oil to hold it down, and after your finished loading close it up start the engine and if the tail comes back off the ground your within c of g. The belly pod got scary a couple of times probably because we weren't used to the weight being there. The freight in the pod didn't hurt the c of g but wasn't very aerodynamic and always affected performance more than you thought. Was a fun 1000 hours though.

[Caracrane]

F... the equipment she got on board. A 207 is a 207 and as previously mentionned one day she might bite you in the ass. Put some HP and that.s no problem. Good Luck.

[Caracrane]

Bear in mind that you have about the power ratio of a 152.

[Caracrane]

gross weight gliding distance...

[Bede]

gross weight gliding distance...

As opposed to empty weight gliding distance? Glide ratio is in no way a function of aircraft weight.

I used to do a soft field t/o and landing. I was told the nose wheel is a bit weak in the 207. Instead of a CG wheel, get an old palm pilot or PDA with a spreadsheet or WB program.

[iflyforpie]

I used to do a soft field t/o and landing. I was told the nose wheel is a bit weak in the 207.

The nose gear is identical to the 206. The light duty is fragile, the heavy duty is fairly robust.

[Ogee]

They aren't great airplanes. They're a 206 that's 200 pounds over gross. Same wing, same engine.

Anybody know what that Soloy 207 is like?

[rigpiggy]

more power, flies better, not commercially viable.

[SuperchargedRS]

Well I got checked out in it a few days ago and it is a really easy A/C to handle.

The 207 in question has the 550 and a STOL kit (VGs on the wind, top and bottom of horizontal stab and both side of vertical stab as wel as wing fences) WAAS GPS, XM, TCAS, 2 axis AP, etc. It just flies like a heavy handed 172, on the flair it floats for days and over all a smooth easy flying aircraft.

[bigsky]

One of the big diff's between the 206 and the 207 is the main gear. The 206 has spring steel. The 207 is tubular. The 207 gear, on gravel, has a tendency to chatter with any braking. This causes more rocks to be flung up into the stab. Almost every 207 that I have seen has had the stab beat to shit.
It also lands hotter. If I recall the 207 only has flaps 30 where as the 206 is flaps 40.

On the 207 the flaps don't block the rear door like the 206.

[rigpiggy]

There are some rubber boots that can be glued to the stab, will help reduce "not eliminate" the damage

[iflyforpie]

If I recall the 207 only has flaps 30 where as the 206 is flaps 40.

The 207 I rebuilt only had 20 degrees of flap.

There are some rubber boots that can be glued to the stab, will help reduce "not eliminate" the damage.

Also good for hiding damage.