This 1973 Cessna T310Q Is a Souped-Up ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick

1973 Cessna T310Q [Courtesy: Harold Kennedy]

Each day, the team at Aircraft For Sale picks an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, represents a good deal, or has other interesting qualities. You can read Aircraft For Sale: Today’s Top Pick at FLYINGMag.com daily.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1973 Cessna T310Q.

Decades ago I spotted a Cessna 310 POH at a used-book sale and had to have it. I picked up a hardcover copy of Chuck Yeager’s autobiography at the same sale and learned a lot about flying from both books.

While I will never approach Yeager’s rarified level of pilotage, I may yet manage to own a 310 someday. Right now, I want this one.

The 310 has been a favorite of mine since childhood when I became aware of airplanes flying over our suburban New Jersey home. Wingtip-mounted main tanks made this light twin easy to spot and added to an already gorgeous design. My father called it an example of “Buck Rogers styling.” He said the same about the mid-1960s Chevrolet Corvette Stingrays that I coveted.

It is natural for pilots to be attracted by the promise of speed. This particular 310, which has undergone a Riley Turbostream conversion, is more prepared than most light piston twins to keep the promise.

Aviation innovator Jack Riley was famous for conversions that coaxed truly impressive performance from Cessnas and other makes. The 310 Turbostream swapped the aircraft’s original Continental engines for larger, turbocharged, intercooled, counter-rotating Lycoming 540s generating 350 hp each.

With that much power, legend has it, the Turbostream can reach 260 ktas, or about 300 mph. How I would love to give that a try.

Not long ago I read about the aircraft for sale here in an article on the Cessna Owner Organization website. I thought about how airplanes like this seem to never show up on the used market but now here it is for sale. It is hard to resist.

This 1973 Cessna T310Q has 4,400 hours on the airframe, 415 hours since overhaul on each of its 350 hp Lycoming TIO-540-N2BD engines, and 428 hours since overhaul on its Hartzell heated three-blade propellers.

The IFR panel includes a garmin GTN 750 GPS/nav/comm, Bendix King KX 165 nav/comm, dual Garmin G5s, dual Garmin GI 275 engine instruments, Garmin GTX 345 transponder with ADS-B In and Out, and Garmin GMA 345 audio panel, Bendix 82 color radar, and Cessna 400A autopilot with yaw damper.

Pilots looking for a sleek, roomy light twin with hot-rod performance and cross-country practicality should consider this 1973 Cessna T310Q, which is available for $295,000 on AircraftForSale.

If you’re interested in financing, you can do so with FLYING Finance. Use their airplane loan calculator to calculate your estimated monthly payments. Or, to speak with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.