best twin-engine aircraft

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Debuting on American television in 1951, fictional Arizona rancher and pilot Schuyler "Sky" King captures criminals with the help of

Best Twin-engine Aircraft

When Bowman was 6 or 7 years old, the parents of a street friend bought him one of his first televisions. "It was a big deal," he recalls, but the first show he saw wasn't impressive. "After

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Come in. This guy fights crime, he's like Superman. The plane will fall and they will catch the bad guys. But he always showed her on the plane. And that impressed me."

He walked in, Bowman was in front of the black and white TV. Eventually, the Bobcat gave way to the Cessna 310B. "I just think it's the coolest plane. I've read since then that they chose that plane to use because it looks like a jet and it looks futuristic," he said. "I know for a fact that it affects me."

Bowman grew up, earned his pilot's certificate and part-owned a Cessna 152 before buying a Piper Lance. "But I always want 310," he said. "I know because I watch that TV show."

The first 310 debuted in 1954, powered by a 240-horsepower Continental O-470B. It pioneered the characteristic nose tank, with its short rounded nose and boxy vertical stabilizer. Over the years, the tail was swept, the engine became larger, the gross weight increased, the ventral fin increased lateral stability, and the nose became more pointed. The biggest change came last, with the 310R in 1975, which had the 285-horsepower IO-520M; maximum takeoff weight of 5,500 pounds; and a 32-inch nose to accommodate more baggage and avionics.

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In the fall of 1986, Bowman and his wife, Cynthia, purchased a 1975 Cessna 310R without flying it. It's the 310R 223 from the assembly line. And his background in art and graphic design became apparent when he began illustrating Cessna's first postwar twins. "We're partial to this look. We really like the tail and the angle of the tail in relation to the fuselage.

Look at the 310 when he bought a new one from the store, Bowman was surprised how hard it was to land. He was just beginning to weigh the decision to buy his dream plane when a vortex generator was recommended, and VG solved the problem. "The vortex generator on this plane is amazing," he said. "The kiosk is under V

A rollover can occur if the twin slows below the minimum control airspeed after one engine fails, and can occur suddenly]. This is a substantial improvement in safety when flying twin-engine aircraft and increases the payload.

He is the only pilot, he uses the same mechanics and the necessary maintenance is carried out after each flight. As a result, he was never surprised during the annual. "There are no big bills, just a few small bills that I can handle," he said. Bowman is a big fan of ECI's nickel-plated cylinders and believes in the borescope during inspections. All cylinders now have compression readings above 75 after more than 1,000 hours of operation, he said. He is also a proponent of low thrust detectors.

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Over the years and over 7000 flight hours, Bowman rebuilt the original Continental IO-520 engine, upgraded it to a Hartzell three-blade propeller, then upgraded the engine to the Continental IO-550 with additional Type Certificate conversions. Coleman, and later, rebuilt the engine. "We bought it for its looks. Like a Corvette," he laughs.

The biggest performance improvement came when Bowman switched to the 300-horsepower IO-550 at the Colemill STC; The upgrades are now available from Mike Jones Aircraft in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. When a larger engine burns fuel every hour, he says overall consumption actually goes down because it's faster and spends less time on the road. "The biggest thing I noticed after the conversion was the climb rate. It went up like crazy," Bowman said. Cruising speed was also increased, to 203 knots.

With these modifications, Bowman saw a sea rate of climb of over 2,000 feet per minute and a single engine rate of climb of 700 fpm. And the VGs add 180 pounds to the maximum takeoff weight, giving them a payload of more than 2,000 pounds.

The 310's fuel system needs some respect. "If you buy a 310, you have to sit down with a cup of coffee and figure this out," Bowman said. You have to take off and land on the main tank which is a 10 foot wing tank. And the return flow from the fuel injector goes to the backbone, so if you switch to the auxiliary tank too quickly, the return fuel will go overboard, reducing clearance. He said that the auxiliary fuel pump is very effective; set it to Low to take off, land and change tanks; and High only if the engine driven fuel pump fails.

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When Bowman considered retirement, he decided to restore his Cessna, but the company quickly moved from restoration to better-than-new. The 310 received new paint and interior in 2016.

Bowman and his wife were art educators who later ran a visual merchandising company, so they knew getting the paint scheme right wouldn't be easy. "Before we did this one, we probably looked at 50 other plans. Some of them were terrible," he said.

In preparation for the paint job, he flew in to see Ken Kaminski, president and owner of Flying Colors Aviation in Benton Harbor, Michigan. “I told him I had this 310 that had been in my family for years and I wanted it to be the best 310 in the country,” Bowman recalled. "I told him my wife and I are designers and showed him some designs. He rolled his eyes."

Plane Schemer's Jonathan McCormick initiated the design and the Bowmans worked with No Coast Design LLC to finalize the plan. "I was really happy, not just a little bit." Both Kaminski's designer and painter went back and suggested it, Bowman said. And Kaminski was very accommodating when they painted the Cessna. "They agreed to let me come whenever I wanted and participate as much as I wanted. I was getting better and better as time went on."

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They settled on the white, black and red scheme. "[Kaminski] told me about this metallic black. We went for charcoal grey," Bowman said. "Cynthia and I racked our brains to find the right red. Some were too orange and some were too orange." Kaminski added mother-of-pearl to the red paint. "I would never know how to do this," Bowman said.

For the best results, Kaminski took a lot of planes. "You can unload a plane, we do it," Bowman said. Many fiberglass and plastic parts were replaced, as well as the cab door hinges. Computer designed templates are used to align complex curves. "We spent weeks on this," Bowman said. "It's fun."

The painting gave rise to some surprises. "When we look at it and it's all white, from a visual perspective there are some things that look good," Bowman said, such as the tail and nose of the tank. And there are some things he doesn't like, like the hump on his nose. The Bowmans flattened the curve of the paint scheme on the nose to de-emphasize that hump, then used a computer to match the curve in the engine nacelles. "Now when you look at it, the hump is gone. I want to change the slope of the windshield, but I can't do it.

The interior was done by Dennis Wolter of Air Mod in Batavia, Ohio. While the plane was in the shop, Wolter noticed that the steps to enter the cockpit were not retracting properly. That is also fixed.

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Next on Bowman's agenda is a panel. "The plane is a work in progress. It's never finished. The target is better than new," Bowman said. "Now I understand why some people at my airport spend two or three years building a plane. They fly for six months, sell it and start over. It's a fun process.

"It's probably not the best 310 in the world," Bowman added. "But I can assure you that it is the most expensive."

He had been trying to program a Garmin G500 TXi touchscreen installation since last fall, but his avionics shop was overwhelmed. The work will be completed this spring. Bowman has updated Collins' original autopilot and recently learned that he will be able to interface with the G500. The ADF receiver, the old WX-10 Stormscope and other panel elements will be moved, he added.

Only the second owner, Bowman, has flown the N310CJ over one and a half million miles. "I think when it comes to general aviation, if you want to be a twin, this is the way to go," he said. “I am certainly not a rich man, but I am

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