Successful entrepreneur, former drag-racer and self-described gear head, Larry Vitatoe faced the heat-versus-rate-of-climb conundrum with his P210-he liked everything about the airplane except for the constant battle with cooling during the climb and the need to sometimes step-climb on hot days.Ībout four years ago, when it was time to overhaul the TSIO-520 up front, Vitatoe decided to act on his idea of getting an STC for a turbonormalized IO-550P in the P (and T) 210. This mod fixes those problems and turns the airplane into a 200-knot cruiser. It took a lot of fuel and time to get to altitude.

When going fast enough to keep CHTs out of the stratosphere, the rate of climb was usually around 400 or 500 FPM. However, the first part of any flight always seemed to be a battle between a decent rate of climb and engine cooling. It’s fast, carries a good load, has honest handling and the pressurization spoiled me.

I’ve liked the P210 ever since I first flew it in 1979. Vitatoe Aviation’s turbonormalized P210 conversion may just have turned the Cessna P210 into the airplane it should have been all along.

Atlantic aero 550 conversion cost