The first Cessna aircraft of the post-WWII era, the Cessna 310 was designed so Cessna could capitalize on the postwar general aviation boom. Whilst Cessna wanted it to be successful, in many ways they failed to account for how popular it would turn out to be.
Produced between 1953 and 1980, 5,449 Cessna 310s and 577 Cessna 320s (a turbocharged variant of the 310) were built, and used by literally hundreds of different operators, including corporations, pilots, film studios, airlines and even the USAF!
Background
Originally a producer of air racing and light training aircraft, Cessna began to play around with the idea of producing a twin-engine advanced trainer in the leadup to WWII.
Known as the AT-17 Bobcat (alternatively the Cessna Model T-50 or Cessna Crane), it first flew on March 26 1939 and soon became quite popular as a small VIP transport, used in a similar vein to how modern business jets are today.
When WWII erupted, Cessna did their part and produced T-50s for both the US Army Air Corps (USAAC) and Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), making a small fortune in the meantime.
And whilst the war’s end was devastating for most aircraft manufacturers (as most of their wartime contracts were cancelled, virtually crippling the manufacturers), Cessna continued to thrive, using their wartime fortune to take advantage of the postwar GA boom.
Producing the wildly successful Cessna 120 family, the company quickly became one of the “Big Three” of GA aircraft manufacturers, alongside Beechcraft and Piper. It was here where they began to notice something else…
At the end of WWII, both the USAAC and RCAF had retired their T-50s. But who had acquired them? The very same pilots who’d flown them during the war!
But this wasn’t to make money. They weren’t starting airlines with fleets of them, they were just flying them for fun.
Cessna quickly discovered that the fuselages of many of these former military T-50s were beginning to rot as they were only made out of wood. Realizing that these pilots would need a new aircraft, Cessna decided to start developing a successor.
Development
Operational History
GA
Corporate
Whilst it would be nigh on impossible to name every corporate operator of the 310 in this article, notable corporate operators of the 310 include: Old England Watches Ltd., Offenview Construction and RV Group.
Military
Movie
As one of the most popular twin pistons of its era, the 310 was naturally a favorite of filmmakers when it came to featuring a small aircraft in movies, TV shows and even the occasional documentary.
Depending on what the director and plot needed, sometimes these 310s were merely used as film props (usually featured in some sort of airport scene) whilst in others, they were featured flying, landing or taking off.
Movies featuring the Cessna 310 include:
- YUL 871
- L’exercice de l’État (English title: “The Minister”)
- Jaws: The revenge
- 7
- A Shock to the System
- Im Dschungel ist der Teufel los (English title: “Jungle Paradise”)
- Seguridad personal
- The Girl from the Song
- Les grandes ondes (Ã l’ouest) (English title: “Longwave”)
- Rules Don’t Apply
- Great Pretender
- Comme un boomerang (English title: “Like a boomerang”)
- Where The Truth Lies
- Two fathers: Justice for the Innocent
- I banchieri di Dio (English title: “The Bankers of God: The Calvi Affair”)
- Vixen!
- The Wild Geese
- 6000 km di paura (English title: “Safari Rally”)
- No Tomorrow
- Doublecrossed
- Santo contra los cazadores de cabezas
- Jurassic Park III
- Area 88: Act I – The Blue Skies of Betrayal
- Curral de Mulheres (English title: “Amazon Jail”)
- Mil Máscaras
- La chèvre (English title: “Knock on wood”)
- Dossier 1413
- The Counselor
- I tre volti (English title: “The Three Faces”)
- Do or Die
- Super 8
- Raise the Titanic
- Le lion
- Più forte, ragazzi! (English title: “All the way boys!”)
- The Helicopter Spies
- Guns
- Maximum Revenge
- Le grain de sable (English title: “The curcular triangle”)
Documentaries featuring the Cessna 310 include:
- Fyre
- UK & Irish Airports – From the 1950s to the 1970s
- The Pursuit of D. B. Cooper
- Flying Businessman
- Independent Airlines – From the Fifties to the Eighties
- Filmavisen
- Look at Life: Flying to Work
- Gatwick Airport – From the 1960s to the 1980s
Likewise, the 310 was also featured in TV shows such as:
- Adam-12 (season 2, episode 18)
- The Man From U.N.C.L.E (season 4, episode 4)
- Eurogang (season 1 episode 1)
- Airwolf (season 3, episode 31; season 3, episode 33; season 3, episode 39)
- Entourage (season 1, episode 8)
- The Doctor Blake Mysteries (season 2, episode 2)
- Aux frontières du possible (season 1, episode 16)
- Flying Wild Alaska (season 1, episode 1)
- Burn Notice (season 1, episode 5; season 4, episode 14; season 4, episode 21)
- The A-Team (season 3, episode 17)
- Falcon Crest (season 3, episode 15)
- The Fear (season 1, episode 4)
- Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em (season 3, episode 4)
- Return of the Saint (season 1, episode 23)
Perhaps the most notable exclusion from the list above is the Cessna 310’s appearance in the 1950’s TV show Sky King, starring Kirby Grant and Gloria Winters.
When the show first aired in September 1951, Sky King (Kirby Grant) flew a Cessna T-50 Bobcat. However, rot on the T-50’s wooden airframe caused the show’s producers to ground it from episode 39 onwards, instead being replaced by a Cessna 310.
Interestingly, Cessna gave the 310 to the producers for free, arguing that the show would act as an unofficial marketing tool for the company, though they did stipulate that the 310’s national sales manager, Bill Fergusson, actually flew the aircraft for filming purposes.
By the end of the third season, the studio had filmed enough stock footage with the 310 that they no longer needed it, and thus sold it on. Additional footage for the last few episodes of season four were shot using a substitute aircraft.
All ground and/or cockpit sequences were filmed using a static test fuselage also given to the production company by Cessna.
Price
In 1959, a brand new Cessna 310C cost $59,950, or roughly $570,000 adjusted for inflation. By comparison, the rival Beechcraft Travel Air and Piper Apache had price tags of $49,500 and $35,990 respectively.
Since Cessna ceased production of the 310 in 1980, however, the only way to acquire a 310 would be to acquire it on the secondary market.
Thankfully, there are an abundance of 310s on the secondary market, ranging in price wildly due to factors such as condition, age and the total number of hours on the fuselage.
On the low end, a well used 310 from the 1950’s with roughly 7,500 total hours or more, will set you back anywhere from $40,000 to $60,000 depending on the specifics.
On the higher end, a much younger 310 with relatively few total hours – usually 5,500 hours or less – will often sell for $175,000 or higher, again depending on the specifics of that deal.
By comparison, a “middle of the market” 310 has roughly 6,000 total hours (or is just in really good condition!) commands a price of $100,000 to $110,000, once again depending on the specifics.
However, the cost of acquiring the 310 is only half of the ownership cost equation: the other half is operating costs. Assuming you were to fly the Cessna 310 for 450 hours per year, it would cost you roughly $434 per hour to operate the 310.
Specifications
| Specifications | Cessna 310 |
|---|---|
| Length | 27 ft (8.23 m) |
| Wingspan | 35 ft (10.67 m) |
| Height | 10 ft 6 in (3.20 m) |
| Crew | 1 |
| Passengers | 4 |
| Cruise Speed | 330 km/h (205 mph; 178 kn) |
| Range | 1,600 km (1,000 mi; 870 nmi) |
| Service Ceiling | 20,000 ft (6,100 m) |
| MTOW | 5,100 lb (2,300 kg) |
How Safe Was The Cessna 310?
As with almost all aircraft ever built,
1827 448
What’s it Like to Fly The Cessna 310?
Legacy
What do you think about the Cessna 310? Have you ever flown it? Tell me in the comments!