C 310 R.. (or a Q)

[anofly]

Anyone got a POH electronic for a C 310 R?
Q?
tips? tricks? experiences? thanks

[Scudrunner]

Found this 310Q looks like crap but it’s a start I’ll do some more looking.

C310Q_POH.pdf

[Scudrunner]

Just found this one for the 310R

C310R_POH.pdf

Hope they help.

[Big Pistons Forever]

A nice flying airplane. Very solid on instruments. All the book numbers are very optimistic. Reduce all POH numbers by 10% and you will get closer to reality.

The non turbo 310’s work best in the 8000 to 10,000 altitude band. They poop out above 12,000 mushing along nose high and start to fly loosely.

Only the last models built in 1979 and later are FIKI approved. They do OK in ice but it is imperative that the horizontal stab boots work and will clear ice.

You have to understand how the fuel system works. There are lots of gotcha’s.

With gear down and full flap and the power at idle it will drop like a stone. Carry a little power in the flare and you will get nice landings every time

The landing gear demands TLC. It must be properly rigged to work reliably. Get maintenance to look at the gear if there are any anomalies in retraction or extension. Proper oleo extension on the ground is important. It is especially important that the nose gear oleo is not low.

[Liquid_Charlie]

Some good advise from BP but having several thousand hours in 3 and 400 series Cessnas on short and gravel strips carrying power in the flair can cost you runway remaining. The aircraft "dead stick" very well and you can hit that target every time. It's all about the learning curve.

Icing is a strange beast with twin cessna, the critical area is inboard of the nacelles and what collect aft of the deicing boot (if installed). It's very subtle and will be hard to detect but That 1/4 inch bead will hurt you.

I was always a cessna man and IMHO were a far better aircraft than their piper counterparts.

[anofly]

Thanks all. Plenty of POH's have numbers that are difficult to hit wrt speed, so thats a given.
It never comes right out and says it yet(i have not read whole manual) but this kinda fuel injection always has a bleed or whatever back to mains? If you run mains down first, flip to aux, the extra fuel heads and starts to refill mains? does it say that out loud ? I have not got to the end of the manual yet....
Need to understand boost pumps and priming better too. but I will keep reading! Thanks

[Chuck Ellsworth]

The aircraft "dead stick" very well and you can hit that target every time. It's all about the learning curve.

All aircraft can be landed safely without power , providing you are a proficient pilot.

However if your flying skills are not sufficient to be comfortable landing power off then using power to help you find the runway is quite acceptable.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Thanks all. Plenty of POH's have numbers that are difficult to hit wrt speed, so thats a given.
It never comes right out and says it yet(i have not read whole manual) but this kinda fuel injection always has a bleed or whatever back to mains? If you run mains down first, flip to aux, the extra fuel heads and starts to refill mains? does it say that out loud ? I have not got to the end of the manual yet....
Need to understand boost pumps and priming better too. but I will keep reading! Thanks

The C310R has 2 main tip tanks (50 USG) and 2 aux tanks (31.5 USG) in the outer wings. Some airplanes also have 1 or 2 nacelle fuel tanks (20 USG each).

The engines get more fuel than they use so the excess gets returned to the main tank. If you are feeding from the aux it will appear that the fuel level is decreasing more quickly than expected. This because the return fuel is filling the mains so the main fuel levels will increase. Therefore never use the aux until the mains are at or below 35 gals so there is room for the return fuel.

Of note you can only cross feed from the mains so in the event of an engine failure the fuel in the aux on the dead side is not available, therefore you should use your aux fuel first. Don’t let the main get almost empty before switching to the aux.

The nacelle tanks pump directly into the main. The pump needs fuel for lubrication so don’t run the transfer pump when the tank is empty

If you have only one nacelle tank go to cross feed to balance the tip fuel as soon as you start transferring fuel ( level flight only)

The tip tanks have a dedicated fuel pump to transfer fuel from the back of the tank to the front to prevent fuel unporting at high pitch angles. This pump is protected by the landing light circuit breaker. Do not fly the airplane with a popped landing light CB.

The capitance type fuel gauges are quite accurate if properly set up. Compare the fuel truck meter reading with what each tank took on your first fill up to see how good the ones on your airplane are.

If you are want full mains and aux tanks, fill the aux first. The aux is 2 interconnected bladders and the interconnection may not keep up with the fuel going in. The aux tank may look full but if you recheck it after filling the tip you will be able to top it up again

The fuel caps on the tanks need a good O ring and be properly adjusted. The handle should require a good force to close it but you should not have to hammer it with your hand to get it to close or need a tool to pry it open. Badly fitted caps or ones with deteriorating seals will allow water to get into the tank when it rains.

The book says if there is no water present at the main fuel drain then you can go but I do all the drains on the first flight of the day

For a quick and dirty flight plan fuel estimate I used 30 gals per hour.

I found that the airplane ran smoother at lower RPM’s. At altitude I usually used 23 in and 2200 RPM and got around 165 kts TAS

As LC pointed out if you are going into a short strip you do not want waste runway. If you are new to the airplane practice on normal runway first before going into a short strip. Otherwise my personal preference on normal length paved runways was to leave a little bit of power on in the flare. I found that with airplane in the landing attitude that little bit of power caused it to settle in to a nice smooth landing, however you do use a bit of extra runway with this technique.

Virtually all of my short rough strip work was in Navajo’s but my C300 and C400 flying was corporate so we were almost always working out of paved runways with ample length, so I defer to his experience .


Like many things in aviation there is often more than one right way to do things so I would suggest that you figure out what works for you by trying different techniques on a normal length runway.

[anofly]

Well thanks so much all for the comprehensive replies!