>>Yes the two engines eat more gas, but I have no worries going>over the Great lakes like I did today, or over hostile>territory. Going a straight line over the such where in a>single I would have gone around is a big time saver. If I may jump in here with a question for you all:In real world flying, do pilots flying single-engine props generally not fly directly over, say, Lake Michigan? Is there some FAA reg similar to ETOPS for the big jets?RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

I've done it but only with good tail winds behind me and at a high altitude, and it has always made me a little nervous.When doing this over Lake Michigan there still is about a 15-20 minute area (depending on your speed) where if you lose an engine you will not make either shore. Atc provides a lake reporting service where you check in every 10 minutes-if they don't hear from you they assume the worst and start SAR procedures.In the CAP they said your average survival length if you ditch in one of the Great Lakes is about 15 minutes-you will get hypothermia after that and probably not make it.When I used to fly to Oshkosh from Michigan in my single-I would follow the Upper Penninsula up to Green Bay-about 1hr longer than going direct.If I felt good, the tailwinds were good,and the weather was good, and I had life vests I'd come back direct over the Lake-but I only did that twice, at high altitude, and there was that 15 minute pucker factor.The last time I did it in a single a friend asked me to accompany him in his c210 to Chicago. I told him I would go as long as he filed to go south of the Lake. Sure enough he didn't, and they sent us right over the lake at 3000 ft.-I was not happy. I mentioned if I'd known this I would have brought some life vests-he mentioned he had a raft! Great I said-where is it? He said back at the hangar- :-hangThere are no Faa regs-but you certainly feel confident in a two engine bird vs. a single. I also remember in my single not leaving Knoxville for Michigan once because of low ground fog over the Smokies. Even though the weather was great at both ends, I did not feel comfortable flying for an hour over hostile terrain that if my engine quit I'd have no place to put down. With a twin, a different story.GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

Boy that brings back a bone chilling quake. I have a family heirloom Cessna 120 in addition to the 206, and a few years ago I majored the engine (with the appropriate IA input of course). With a whopping 4 hours on the engine I let an acquaintance talk me into flying him back to St. Pete from Lakeland (evening naturally). By the time I dropped him off at the FBO and accumulated enough clearances to taxi

Funny you mention that! I flew from St. Pete to Sarasota for the Aopa expo in Tampa a few years ago (dropped a passenger off at St. Pete-wanted to make the drop in Lakeland but it was below mins-our housing was in Sarasota). That is one big bay-and they switched approaches/runways on us during on the short 10 minute flight. Digging up a new approach at night with a flashlight made it quite hectic in such a short time-luckily there were two pilots on board and a twin which made the over water/opposite approach not as nail biting.Nice planes you have..I've never flown a 206 but everyone says they are the greatest.GeofMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

Thanks Geof,That's a big bay, but not big enough when you have to start digging for charts - funny.The link (if it works) should produce a photo I found taken by the 120 group a few years ago. My Dad bought the plane from his F94C RO while stationed at Moody AFB in 1956. That would put me at 3 years old (math hurts).http://www.cessna120-140.org/Photo_Album/L...C120_N76458.htmThe 206 is a wonderful truck and a very comfortable airplane for travel - you just can't be in a hurry. We've had it since 1976, and just kept it when my Dad got out of the aerial photography business.Leon

That is a beauty-looks like something you would see on display in Oshkosh. That is cool to have held onto it all that time-one year older than me! Thanks for the shot.GeofaMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

You are welcome Geof. And thanks for the compliment. That photo was taken at Sun n' Fun, and I believe that was the year I picked up the award. We've been fortunate enough to have been the subject of a few feature articles, and the old bird is also the holder of four first and one second place finishes in the Sun n' Fun Sun 60 air race - Class 1A (haven't done that in a while though). That means I out pedaled an 85 hp Taylorcraft several times but couldn't keep up with an 85 hp Swift (I have my suspicions the Swift was a ringer with at least 86 hp).Anyway, thanks for your contributions to the forum. I, and I'm sure everyone else, enjoy all the informative input, and particularly the photos from your travels.Thanks again,Leon