Page 6 - Volume 16 Number 5

PThe O&N Silver Eagle P210 Conversionby LeRoy CookNearly 20 years ago, O&N Aircraft Modifications of Factoryville, Pennsylvania introduced its Silver Eagle turbine conversion of Cessna’s Pressurized Centurion. Now that 107 units have gone out the door, O&N can boast of a significant market penetration among the 874 P210s Cessna built from 1978 through 1986. By replacing the big Cessna single’s 310-hp TSIO-520P piston engine with a 450-shp Rolls-Royce 250-B17F2 turboprop, O&N has transformed Cessna’s lackluster duckling into a soaring swan.The P210 was a valiant effort to mate Cessna’s long experience with turbocharging to a four-to-six-place pressurized cabin, a natural progress of the company’s introduction of the 421, 414, 340, and 337 pressurized twins. The only problem was a lack of oomph from a single powerplant; tapping the turbo’s compressed air for even light pressurization required more effort than the highly-stressed engine could manage. Compared to the Turbo Centurion, takeoff and climb was sluggish, the cylinders ran hot, accessories suffered from the heat, fuel flow was high and maintenance needs soared.PeePerfeCt4 • TWIN & TURBINEMAY 2012