Wanting a U206G, preferably set up for seaplane duty with the larger tail and factory seaplane kit. I'm not interested in anything other than a G variant, although I'm not picky about whether it's turbo or not or even engine hours. Must have zero damage history and reasonable airframe time.

Other than that, I'm not picky about the details. In fact, I'd prefer an otherwise unadulterated plane with old upholstery, avionics, paint, etc. as I will be treating this as a project and prefer not to pay a premium for upgrades I'll likely just replace anyways.

Thanks

*Edited to correct some confusion on factory seaplane kit.

CParker wrote:Wanting a U206G, preferably set up for seaplane duty with the larger tail and firewall reinforcements. I'm not interested in anything other than a G variant, although I'm not picky about whether it's turbo or not or even engine hours. Must have zero damage history and reasonable airframe time.

Other than that, I'm not picky about the details. In fact, I'd prefer an otherwise unadulterated plane with old upholstery and avionics as I will be treating this as a project and prefer not to be expected to pay a premium for upgrades I'll likely just replace anyways.

Thanks

So, to clarify, you want a 206 with the Wipline engine conversion…..ie: the “firewall reinforcements”? The standard Cessna float kit doesn’t provide any firewall reinforcements. And I’m not sure whether Wip’s kit requires the IO 550 engine or not, but I THOUGHT it does. That kit ups the GW on floats to 3800, so I believe the engine is part of that kit.

MTV

That's confusion on my part, I thought the factory float plane kit included some sort of reinforcement. I don't require a Wipaire conversion as part of my purchase criteria, but I'd accept a plane that had it without hesitation.

That being said, you've beat me over the head with the 550 conversion being the best so much that I intend to go that route on this plane... hence my lack of specificity on type and condition of the engine

Not to clutter your thread too much, but I’ve bought and installed two engine upgrades. From 285 hp TSIO 520 to 300 hp TSIO 520 Ram conversion in a T210. Also from 300 hp IO 520 to 330 HP IO 550 in my 185. Both made sense for resale given the incremental cost, but neither was necessary or particularly noticeable in performance improvement. I think propeller upgrades have given me more bang for the buck, and honestly they’re more expensive. The cost of a new prop minus resale of my used has been more than the additional cost to upgrade the engine at overhaul time.

The original seaplane kit for the C-206 attached the forward struts to the nose gear attach point. Wipaire created and approved an STC which installed a set of pretty massive “x-braces, mounted to the firewall, and attached their float struts there, more like the float attach on a 185. That kit also installed the IO-550 engine AND increased the seaplane GW to 3800 pounds. I’m guessing that the relocation of the struts was to get to 3800.

I’ve never flown a C-185 with an IO-550, but I will tell you that a stock 185 seaplane is a very different beast than a stock 206 seaplane. The 185 on floats does really well with the stock IO-520, but frankly, the stock 206 is kind of doggy by comparison. Consider for one thing, the 206 launches at 3600 in stock form, while the 185 goes out at 3350. The wings are also slightly different, etc.

But, a 206 converted to IO-550 will compete favorably with a 185 in performance. The Wip conversion is nice because it authorizes the 3800, but the Flint tip tanks do as well. Frankly, I’d rather have the Wip conversion……the U-206G really doesn’t need much more gas.

Good luck in your search.

MTV

Thanks for the advice, guys.

IO550 with a composite prop will be a part of the build. I realize the bang for the buck may not be amazing, but this will be a "forever plane" and I will be investing in it accordingly.

I had to wrestle with the engine choice issue for a while, I ended up finally succumbing to the notion of 550 superiority primarily over safety/reliability. To me the 550 is safer than the NA 520 because it produces more power, and it's safer than the turbo 520 because it operates with less internal stress. One can argue (as I have) that the turbo 520 produces more power in almost all situations, but the high stress and high maintenance of the turbo 520 to me suggests that reliability can be a concern. I fly my family over rough terrain to camp on a regular basis, reliability and safety are #1. So, to me, the 550 has the right recipe for my mission.

Not to mention several very experienced pilots I've spoken to are in chorus on the advantages of the 550.

The air taxi guys in Juneau that have 206’s on floats put in the 550 conversion that has more engine mounts, I think 6? Maybe a cold air induction also? I don’t know who’s conversion it is, I know it is very expensive and the airplane is turbine smooth afterwards. And they flat carry the mail.

gbflyer wrote:The air taxi guys in Juneau that have 206’s on floats put in the 550 conversion that has more engine mounts, I think 6? Maybe a cold air induction also? I don’t know who’s conversion it is, I know it is very expensive and the airplane is turbine smooth afterwards. And they flat carry the mail.

Yeah, there are STCs available for engine mount upgrades and a conversion to cross-flow cylinders. Both are very interesting to me.

gbflyer wrote:The air taxi guys in Juneau that have 206’s on floats put in the 550 conversion that has more engine mounts, I think 6? Maybe a cold air induction also? I don’t know who’s conversion it is, I know it is very expensive and the airplane is turbine smooth afterwards. And they flat carry the mail.

That sounds like the upper air cross flow induction 550. I know two guys with those in 206s and they swear by them. Atlantic Aero holds that STC, the latest version of which installs the IO-550N engine, which is rated at 310 hp, and likely makes more, since it’s a part 33 engine, so has to make rated power.

Atlantics earlier STC installed the IO-550F engine.

Bring money in either case. But, as you say, if this is your “forever airplane”, the IO-550N would be really high on my list.

MTV

mtv wrote:

gbflyer wrote:The air taxi guys in Juneau that have 206’s on floats put in the 550 conversion that has more engine mounts, I think 6? Maybe a cold air induction also? I don’t know who’s conversion it is, I know it is very expensive and the airplane is turbine smooth afterwards. And they flat carry the mail.

That sounds like the upper air cross flow induction 550. I know two guys with those in 206s and they swear by them. Atlantic Aero holds that STC, the latest version of which installs the IO-550N engine, which is rated at 310 hp, and likely makes more, since it’s a part 33 engine, so has to make rated power.

Atlantics earlier STC installed the IO-550F engine.

Bring money in either case. But, as you say, if this is your “forever airplane”, the IO-550N would be really high on my list.

MTV

You can also convert a 520/550F to crossflow configuration using the Vitatoe STC and putting crossflow cylinders and upper induction on. Bumps the 550 to 310HP as well. Again, not a cheap conversion but for your forever plane...
I though about doing it on my 520 but the numbers just didn't pan out for me, and now that I've put a couple hundred hrs on my engine I'm finding that my fuel burn numbers are lower then they claim they can get, so I think I made the right choice. Never know for sure, but that my guess right now.

The 550N is a good engine for sure, but it may have some drawbacks on a float plane.

I’ve probably flown 500+ IO550N’s without exaggeration. That’s the Cirrus SR22 engine.

I’ve only flown a couple IO550D’s on 185’s, and was pleasantly surprised that they don’t have any trouble with hot starts or idling slow.

The N engine is notorious for tricky hot starts and idles poorly below about 650 RPM.

I’m guessing it’s something to do with the throttle valve being on the top where all the heat is building up after a summer flight.