CESSNA 207 Walkaround | Stretch Limousine of the SKIES! 

I love this bird. So much so, that I sold my Skylane and bought one over 20 years ago. It’s a great hauler, an excellent back country plane, and it’s fun to watch crowds form when I land and begin unloading 7 whitewater kayaks out of it. If you pull the back 2 rows of seats for a camping trip, you can stretch out sleeping bags and spend the night inside. I fly in and out of dirt strips in Idaho, Montana and Washington, and as long as you calc for density altitude, the naturally aspirated IO520 does the job just fine. It hauls full size coolers, bicycles, and all the camping gear you would ever need. The forward baggage compartment is a joy for, and unique to this model. It’s stable in chop, and is a great IFR platform, as the added length provides great tailfeather authority. Other than a Cherokee Six, there is no other bird as capable, comfortable, or dependable. One flight and you’ll be hooked.

My dad was a freight dog when I was growing up. Some of the absolutely best moments of my life were in the right seat of a 207. You gotta remember, though, not to rotate too hard, cuz with that super-stretched station wagon of the sky, it's really easy to touch the tail to the ground during takeoff and landing... It's a crying shame that the 207 is one of the least-known Cessna aircraft of all time; honestly, I absolutely adore them! There's just something about that big, boxy airplane that just gets me every time. If I ever hit the lottery and have many millions of dollars in my bank account, you can bet I'll be buying a Skywagon the very next day... :) >why would you want to take 7 people up to 18,000ft? Skydiving. A lot of these airplanes got used as skydiving rigs and freight movers.

In California I flew a Turbo 207 for a while. Nice for higher density altitudes. We called it the truck.

I flew outback mail runs out of Broken Hill in Australia in early 80s in the 207. We nicknamed ours “The Sausage “ because of how stretched it looked alongside the 206s and the 205 we had. Did 2000 hours in it on mail runs alone- 30 landings per day 2 days per week at 6.2 landings per hour. Over 12,000 landings on bush strips carrying passengers ( tourists) mail, freight etc and the old sausage never let me down once. Always started no matter how hot ( we used to stop engine at most places to talk to customers) , and would carry whatever you could stuff into it. Within reason of course. However-We rarely operated out of a strip over 1000 ft elevation and after takeoff there was not much to clear except the horizon lol - I would not have dared to operate in say the mountainous jungle strips in Papua New Guinea for instance- heavily loaded and hot weather meant a bloody long climb to 10,000ft - a number I rarely saw on my altimeter unless the load was “ not heavy” Loading the aircraft the night before was a job we called “ stuffing the sausage”😊and as per previous comments- if it didn’t sit on its tail when full ( 1st 4 seats empty) then you were good to go. I did dozens of w+b calculations for the job when I started and it was always inside c of g limits so a safe airplane if handled sensibly.Acres of room inside, plenty of doors, easy to handle and land and not tiring to fly on long days. Great workhorse aeroplane …but stay out of the mountains in you’re hot and heavy..especially if you’re not running a turbo..

I flew them up in Alaska for just under a year when I was on furlough. I thoroughly enjoyed them. But I was somewhat shocked on my initial checkout on them by their lack of glide performance. If you lose the engine, especially while carrying a substantial load, you're pretty much going to land on whatever is straight down beneath you at the time. I'd guess the glide ratio to be 3:1 ( that's three feet down for every foot forward...) Maybe a little hyperbolic, but not much.

Flew a 207 for skydiving Ops in North Qld Australia for about 6 years, was also one of the multi-owners and the only pilot owner. We did a Bonaire 550 conversion on it, 300Hp continuous whereas the 520 was 300Hp for takeoff only then had to throttle back a bit. Was fun to ferry empty, climbed like a rocket, but on the hot days on a short strip with 6 skydivers on board lets say the climb performance was , well, lets just say you needed patience to get to ten thousand feet, if you got there at all! you'd be at 9500 at 80knots-ish and climb AoA with zero rate of climb. I believe the old bird (VH-FIF) came to grief after it was sold off and went to another drop zone so is scrap now. If you google 207 in Australia, VH-FIF comes up as one of the pictures when it was a brand new aircraft.

Flew many hours in C207s over the Grand Canyon doing tours.... we used to "load it up" based on the weight and balance computer program...... then we would sit on the horizontal stabilizer to do a last minute CG check before start up...... if your body weight can't lift the nose off the ground when sitting on the tail, then you are basically in the CG envelope..... that was the idea at least.... I was shocked how we could load that airplane to the gills and still get airborne with 9000ft DA.....

Great video thanks Michael. We own a Cessna 207 VH-EVB that conducts charter operations to and from the local islands here in Port Lincoln, South Australia. It has been an absolutely fantastic work horse that our clients have dubbed `The A380`. Our clients love to fly in her because of the room, excellent visibility and the great carrying capacity. She has carried everything you can imagine including Stick Nest Rats, Oysters, Abalone, Crayfish, deceased people in coffins, cement, bricks, plus more, including the kitchen sink! I would say that one third of what she carries is people, another third freight and the remainder grog! The islanders don't mind a drink or two. Every fridge and TV on the islands is of a certain size as the majority all had to fit in 207. Our pilots and I love flying her, she certainly isn`t a fast or a quick climbing aircraft but she is solid and reliable and performs well in turbulence and crosswinds. I noted in the comments that someone stated that the 207 isn't a great glider and we can certainly attest to that, hence we conducts steeper approaches than normal avoiding getting behind the drag curve as easily especially when fully loaded. We can't understand why Cessna stopped production of the 207 but continued the 206 line. The 207 is far more useful, especially having the extra room, but mainly because of the front luggage locker that allows for a significant amount of weight to be put forward to keep the C of G in check. We had a very nice Cherokee 6 that has recently been sold and now resides in Fiji. As much as we enjoyed the Cherokee, It was difficult to load freight and passengers, especially older passengers that had to use the overwing door. The old girl is in for 100 hourly as I write this and we have just been quoted $17,000 for a new rudder/steering bungie...that's aviation for you!

The best cargo plane I've ever flown in the 80's engine failure landed on the beach and towed with another pilot with a Cessna 206 80 miles south of the US border amazing thing

Unreal content. So good to see some Aussie GA stuff on RU-vid that isn’t awful. The 207 looks cool, don’t think I’ve ever seen one in the metal. Arkaroola is on my fly-in bucket list too.

Back in the early 1980s I worked at an airport that the airport manager had a fleet of 207s and 208s to haul freight. Mostly it was stiffener boards for IBM. Me being a young teen I didn't think much about CG and decided to unload a 207 by myself. I started with the baggage compartment at the nose and when I emptied it the tail slowly settled to the ground. Learned about CGs that night. The 207 and 208 were the Caravan prior to it being built - rugged and a workhorse.

Bloody awesome aircraft, would be great to fly !!, great video guys.

Flew both back in the day, turbo 207 had a 4 blade prop and a cargo pod, cargo pod was excellent for keeping your c of g in check, silky smooth lycoming if I recall came in at 310 horsepower. 👍👍

What a great video friend!!!! The 206 and 207's are solid, solid workhorses.

Super nice to see this plane again. It's been a while since I was in it last, in the very back seat, as I recall. You're quite right, it is suprisingly comfortable back there, and you still do get a great view out the windows. Well worth swinging by Arkaroola to see it in the flesh some time, and take some time to explore the amazing landscapes up there from on the ground as well as in the air.

We operated a 207 00165 from 1971 to 1986. A Great plane in every respect. 7 pax, and full fuel out of a 2000ft runway. The plane is still flying in italy.

My father had one. Great plane.

My dream plane would be a 206t, there’s something I love about that utilitarian design, it’s tough as hell.

My town's first air ambulance was a 207, a very capable single. Of course nowdays they use twin Cessna 400 series.

Amazing. My father owns a T207 Turbo Stationair, truly a rock & roll plane. My favorite.

207 is a great airplane! I got my high performance endorsement in a 206TC, flew the 207 for a bit before I went to the Caravan for a couple years. It's a good stepping stone.

Loved the video and now iam subscribed! greetings from Brazil!! Iam flying this plane in Flight Simulator!

Love the 207 - only ever seen one in real life -- they definitely demand attention with that extra length and beefy look . Enjoy ! ! !

Flown several while working for Hageland Aviation in Alaska , great Bird

Go a lot of time in sleds out in western AK. Was a good time. 😊

Love your channel.

Great video thx!

Great video!

I have 150ish hours in a 210 and that can carry a lot of stuff. Then knowing the 206 can carry even more... then these can carry even MORE. I couldn't even imagine lol

In regards to the doors… Many of the C206 models have been converted with a pilot door kit, so it’s not uncommon to see those around the ramp. I worked around them A LOT in my young years.

My Uncle had a turbo 207 on wheels we used to deliver loads to bush strips We were on Lake hood and flew that plane out of Merril field

Flew it for 800+ hours. Cargo hauling, sight-seeing flights, para dropping. Crossed the British Channel many times, in IFR and at night , never let me down. But then I was the only one flying it. When I loaded it up, i might have fallen on its tail, the test was taking my seat up front and see if it straightened out. That would mean the trim was ok.

You asked why anyone would want the turbo variant, to take a full load quickly to 18000ft? Skydiving. I did my first 100 jumps from a 207T. Replace that huge door with a roll- up, remove all the seats except the pilot's.

I use to own one and its a fantastic airplane, wide track tubular main gear which is super smooth as it can move in all directions unlike the flat spring gear on the 206, put the real heavy weight stuff in the nose bag compartment if it can fit keeps the tail off the ground, pilot/copilot doors plus the rear double cargo door, mine had factory corrosion proofing (zinc chromate)....I operated at sea level and a long runway so no worries with D/A, there are even some with turbine conversions flying around....sorry I sold it cause they cost crazy money now.

Having worked around the 206 a LOT in the past year and seeing has they're basically honourary tail draggers, I can't imagine seeing a fully loaded 207 taxiing lol

I really enjoyed watching this video. Does a C206s have a design flaw? There has been a lot of crashes in 🇰🇪 Kenya

I’m looking forward to seeing what it takes to fly the 207

Love this intro to the 2007. Got a good bit of 206 time and mostly on the Amazon in Peru. I like this aircraft and reckon that she might do well on floats too, right? Anyone have any info on how this 207 operates on floats?

I want to fly this Beast and see how it handles

Hello...I have and Fly a T207.... They are great airplanes..!!!

That’s why I love because of two doors in case of a emergency landing to getting my passengers out

Favourite aircraft greatings from Johannesburg,South Africa. One aircraft abanded at Luanda Airport,story told used as a bomber of UNITA armed forces

I haven't seen a 207 sitting on a ramp anywhere in many many years. 😢

The 206 I flew had 2 fromt doors ...it was an older model that had a small pax door on the left side

I flew a 207 for about 150 hours as PIC in South America. I think it's a good aircraft, but I much prefer the 206. I've seen to many pilots tail strike the 207 and it the bush they have a tendency to just cram as much into the rear and cram people in, quite a scary takeoff. Very few 207's still flying in Central and South America. Most have been crashed. Now with the 208 selling like hot cakes it's out dated. And smaller airlines have a tendency to hire better pilots when they have several million dollars invested in their equiptment instead of a hundred thousand or less.

My 205 fuel selector has only L, R & off. Same with the 210s. Also, I’ve never heard of a Cessna that didn’t have two doors. Did the 206 get rid of a door?

Taking off on gravel strips. Why don't you guys have the V brace behind the windshield. All my 207 time is out of Bethel Alaska. Every spring the runways turned to muck. The turbo has much more torque you can feel it taking off out of a muddy runway. I flew the 207 back in 1984 for the first time. Back then we used to fly with six passengers plus the pilot. I remember another pilot and myself transporting 12 kids around to different village for basketball games. It's funny where you're at, nature trying to get you with heat. Where I was at, nature was using cold.

0:10 could it be... the Cessna 207? It's in the title lol.

You have to do a weight and balance on every flight is what I would do

How would you compare this to the Cherokee six?

Commonly referred to as the two-oh-sled.

How much horse power does the IO-520 put out ?

Nice plane, I flew one of them in the DRC. My NGO based in Kenya is currently looking for one for our humanitarian projects, would you mind giving me a direction please?

I find people talk a load of crap about the 206/207 basically because its bigger and heavier than a 172 or the usual ppl staple, a PA28. C of G limits and flying the aircraft at the right speed properly trimmed are all that is necessary to operate it (or any aircraft for that matter) safely in all configurations of flight. The talk of huge pulls to round out without landing on the nosewheel are nonsence, if you retrim as the speed reduces, a perfectly normal practice. At around 3600 lbs for the 206 and 3900 for the 207 all up its heavier that what most PPLs encounter and should be treated accordingly after an appropriate checkout. Its sad that Cessna degraded some of its short field performance by restricting the flaps to 30 degrees from 40 probably because inexperienced people might mishandle it in certain flight phases but hang on, they did this to the 152 that followed the 150 which originally had 40 degrees and could land on almost anything! The only improvement I can suggest is a bit more power say 350 hp especially in the 207 to replace the 285, 300 and 310 variants. Economy and performance are not two words that go together, so do not expect these aeroplanes to fly on a few pints of fuel, but as load haulers its hard to find something better in their respective classes.

Where is it

Why would you want to take 7 passengers to 18000’? So they can jump out of course. My first ever flight was in a 207 when I did my first skydive.

Just a question, doesn’t the 207 have a very similar powerplant to the 206? And if so… surely it’s significantly heavier due to the reinforcements needed and the extra load that I assume it would carry. How does it perform compared to a 206?

Only modern plane that Cessna did not certify for floats, which sucks. The one in Home is a beach (saltwater) plane used for bear sightseeing. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

2022, and it’s still not fuel injected ?

Really quiet in the cabin? 🤣 Absolutely not. I work on these every day. They're still getting the job done here in Alaska and we have several aircraft with over 40,000 hours on the airframe.

They fly like dog's compared to a 206... Beware doing a max rate turn at full weight ... you'd better have good airspeed.

Bird

Why do you put music in the video? It's disturbing. This is a video about the airplane, not music

Yup, ugly….flies ugly too…a stretched 206, but needs more Power, at least 350hp…400 would be better….but a 206 will carry more weight but the 207 s we used for carrying light bulky stuff….in Alaska…..