1963 Cessna 205

Detailed Description

Only 576 Cessna 205s were ever built, and this one has the history you want. N8170Z is a 1963 Cessna 205 Super Skywagon with approximately 3,988 hours total time on the airframe. It carries no damage history and complete logbooks since new. On top of that, a Horton STOL kit turns this big six-place hauler into a genuine short-field airplane.

The Cessna 205 is where the whole Stationair line began. Cessna took the retractable-gear 210, bolted the gear down, and revised the door and seating arrangement. The result was a six-seat utility single that could carry a real load out of a real short field. Officially designated the Model 210-5, it ran for only two model years - 1963 and 1964 - before the Cessna 206 replaced it. Because of that short run, you rarely see one come up for sale.

What sets N8170Z apart is the airframe underneath it. At approximately 3,988 hours total time, it sits well below the roughly 6,750-hour average for the model. Better still, it has never been damaged, and the logbooks are complete from new. For a 1963 utility airplane that has spent six decades earning its keep, that is an unusually clean record.

Rare, Documented, and Well Priced

Consider what is actually scarce here. Cessna built only 576 of these across two model years, and very few came through six decades of utility work with a record like this one. Approximately 3,988 hours total time. No damage history. Complete logbooks since new. A JPI EDM-700 has been recording operating data along the way, so how this airplane has been flown and cared for is documented rather than guessed at.

Now look at the market. Clean 205s are asking $185,000 and up. N8170Z is $120,000. You are buying the scarce part - a low-time, undamaged, fully documented airframe with the STOL kit, the wheel pants and 1,432 pounds of useful load already in place - and you keep real room in your budget to finish the airplane exactly the way you want it.

For a buyer who intends to own and fly an airplane for years rather than months, that is a strong place to start.

Equipped, Compliant, and Ready for Your Panel

The expensive part of modernizing an airplane this age is already behind you. N8170Z meets the ADS-B Out mandate with a TSO-certified uAvionix skyBeacon. Otherwise, the panel is honest 1963 factory instrumentation backed by dual Narco nav/com radios - straightforward, functional, and an inexpensive foundation for future avionics upgrades.

In addition, the airplane carries a Horton STOL kit, an LED wingtip and strobe lighting package, wheel pants, and inertial-reel shoulder harnesses. The six-place cabin features cloth-insert seats with leather trim, and the exterior features white with black and gold striping.

If you have been waiting for a rare, low-airframe-time, six-seat hauler that you can buy right and make your own, this is the one.

Remarks

• Inspection Status
• Airworthy with a Current Annual Inspection
• Complete Logbooks Available for Review on Request
• Times are approximate and subject to logbook verification