Thanks for the detailed advice Billy. I was thinking of adding the tip tanks since I understand the plane may handle better (other than the extended range of course). Easier to land, better climb and a bit faster, etc. Any thoughts on that or have you flown one with tips? Also thinking of putting the cargo pod on it but not sure how much it degrades performance.
I know they serve completely different purposes, but if the budget were limited, which would you chose from your experience?
Also this is a turbo, any thoughts on handling the power from your experience as you come down and get on final?
Thank you
The wings are different between the 206 and the 207. I have had two partial power failures in the 207 but was near enough to a landing spot (notice I didn't say airport) so I never had to try to stretch the glide.
I flew a 206 with the Flint Tip tanks, but I really didn't notice any difference. Maybe a little more stable during slow flight. We never used them because we wanted the weight for revenue.
The 207 has never been mistaken for a speed queen. As far as the belly pod, it does slow it down a little. We had tundra tires and there is reduction in speed for that as well. The pod makes it a little harder to sump the header tanks. The pod can get wet inside during flight through light rain. We also had problems with oil getting in the pod, but that is where we carried spare oil. Remember that I did extreme flying in the bush. The planes I flew were not beauty queens by anyone's standards. They were loaded to the gills, flown hard on short, gravel and sometimes soft rural strips and off airport. That could have been part of why the pod did not seal well.
As far as crosswind landings were concerned, I always considered any wind less than the max cross wind reference as a calm wind. I have landed in wind strong enough to have to land in a crab, but on gravel or snow the plane just slid in the crab until slow enough to align the nose wheel with the landing strip.
As far as the turbo goes, it is like any other turbocharged plane. I only flew one 207T and I would pull 3 inches 5 minutes before starting the decent. After that I would go 1 inch per minute or 1 inch per thousand feet until in the pattern. It only takes a little practice to get used to hitting your target power setting at pattern altitude. After landing I waited until the exhaust gas temperature was below 800 degrees (I think) before shutting the engine down. On landing I only pushed the prop up to 2500 RPM to help reduce noise. This was not a problem in the bush, it was just something I did to be nice. %$#& white people would get flaky at the noise. It didn't bother the eskimo.
I did do some 98 degree weather in Fairbanks. Just as any other piston plane it climbed out a little slower and I kept an eye on temperatures.
I don't know if ice will be a problem in your area of operations. I have had as much as an inch of ice on the leading edges and it flew well as I tried to get out of the icing conditions. Anymore and I would lose either altitude or airspeed. I found the 207 as a stable IFR platform. We were restricted to day/night VFR operations only but with the sudden weather changes in Alaska that is not always possible. And nights in Alaska can be really dark with no reference to any hope of horizon.
I hope I am giving you some useful information. Please feel free to ask anything on the 207, and if I know or remember I will be glad to share.
