#making clear that tk is doing this not to manipulate feelings but to show love and appreciation

[guardian-angle22]

911: Lone Star | TK Strand & Carlos Reyes in S4E12

[unstatedmartini]

this is very sincere: I would love to hear your meta thoughts about the dinner scene and expand on your tags

thank you for asking, anon! i am always very happy to share more of my Deep Thoughts a;dlfkjasdf

so i don't necessarily mind scenes (in fic/meta, or in canon like the police station scene or carlos' bedside rant) where tk feels bad or carlos still hangs on to the sting of rejection - that's a character perspective thing and generally it works for me. but i've read so many takes where the idea is that tk should, like, apologize for being a self-centered asshole and rejecting this sweet pure gesture from carlos who just wanted to be nice - and it's just like no! carlos is the asshole in that scene! tk is literally as gracious about it as he could reasonably be!

first of all, it's incredibly revealing that carlos didn't just ask him on a date, and his after-midnight invitation obviously didn't say 'hey are you free? i've just finished making you a fancy romantic dinner and the champagne is chilling. dressing up optional but recommended!' (my carlos? trying to make relationship decisions unilaterally and then getting snide and mean when tk doesn't fall in line? it's more likely than you think!)

but let's just say that it's not weirdly controlling to ambush someone with a big romantic gesture like that instead of asking if it's what they want. let's say that's just him being his sweet, romantic, generous self. i'm sure that will work out great for him, forever.

it remains true that in the actual dinner scene he is a DISASTER. when tk comes in hot, the bare minimum would have been for carlos to acknowledge that they clearly had different ideas of how the night would go and give him the option to decline gracefully. and when tk, though polite and willing to take responsibility for his role in this apparent miscommunication by explaining his expectations more clearly (i thought we were clear, i'm not looking for this, i just got out of a relationship and i'm not looking to jump into another one, etc), continues to assert his boundaries instead of swooning, carlos responds with increasing incredulity and mockery

by the end, when tk sees there's no constructive way forward and decides to leave, carlos literally says why are you being so crazy? that's such a red flag! i think that's literally the most asshole-ish thing either of them says to each other in the entire 2.5 seasons of the show! and then tk apologizes for the misunderstanding! you would honestly think tk had called carlos names and thrown a drink in his face by the way some people talk about the dinner scene, instead of simply having boundaries that carlos didn't want him to have and then leaving with an apology

all that being said, i get why people sympathize with carlos in the scene, i really do. i sympathize with him! i get why it's something he still brings up a whole relationship + break up + coma later! that's why i said that this scene shows the best and worst of both of them - we definitely see carlos' generosity, his sweetness, his sensitivity, his desire to care for others and tk in particular. but we also see his need for control, his unilateral approach to relationships, his reliance on mocking dismissal when trying to manage tk's reactions. and it makes sense that he still broods about it, because of how deeply he feels things and how desperately he wants to fix them when they go wrong

and those are all things that come back, consistently, because carlos is a really well-written, interesting, layered character who starts off good and then gets to GROW and become an even better kinder braver more honest and less manipulative version of himself! and that's why i love him and love watching his journey <3

[akookminsupporter]

Today I want to talk about park jimin and the... hatred that certain parts of the fandom feel towards him, particularly on twitter.

Disclaimer: I want to start by apologising for any spelling mistakes you may find in this long post; English is not my first language. And sorry for the long post.

As I said before, the member I immediately connected with was jungkook but Jimin was a close second. In my opinion it's almost impossible not to love jimin, not to be proud of everything he is and everything he does, it's almost impossible not to want to protect him and give him the universe.

Jimin is talented, disciplined, compassionate, funny, tender, talented, an excellent dancer, an excellent singer, an excellent friend... Jimin is simply an excellent person. Jimin is also sexy, handsome, cute, beautiful, his duality is both admirable and scary at the same time. Jimin is a complex being, with many nuances, but at the same time very simple.

For all of the above, I wonder why some so-called BTS fans seem to hate jimin. I can understand that you don't like him, no one is obliged to like everyone, although it's true that it's strange that you say you love BTS, but hate one of their members, a member who is just as important and vital as the other 6.

twitter is... hell, it's the easiest and quickest way to find out about something, but at the same time it's a hoover that sucks you in and makes you think that what is said there is universal and is what the whole world thinks, social media is a blessing and a curse at the same time and twitter is perhaps the clearest representation of this at the moment.

When I finally became ARMY I opened a twitter account, I think so far I follow the right accounts, most of them are jikookers but I also follow some OT7 accounts. Thanks to this I have realised that jimin is many, many times insulted, ignored and demerit either because of his physique, his beauty, his talent or just because.

the reasons, if you can call them that, vary but the main one is: shippers.

jikook v taekook.

Taekokers I noticed, hate jimin because according to them, he is meddling in TK's relationship, he is a home wrecker, he does fanservice with jungkook to hide taekook, all this orchestrated by the big bad, BIGHIT.

So they hate him because Jimin is the obstacle which doesn't allow TK to be happy, which doesn't allow them to enjoy more TK content because... their lives are a reality show? I don't know. The things I've seen them say about jimin.... my god, what kind of education are these people getting? What kind of values and principles were they taught at home? When I see what people like them write I understand a little more why the world is so fucked up.

I think being relatively new to the fandom gave me an advantage when watching BTS content and observing the interactions of the members, as I said in my introductory post, when I started watching BTS content on YouTube, I almost always saw a video about TK in the recommendations, for a few days I didn't care to watch it until finally curiosity won and.... Didn't see anything, at least not what the person who edited the video was trying to prove. Something I noticed in that video is that they are a bit... manipulative, the video was edited in a way that showed the narrative that the author definitely wanted to tell, but later when I saw the content released by BH I realized that that narrative was wrong. One thing that was clear is that Jimin was the bad guy, they don't say it directly in their videos but they implied it. Another thing I notice they do a lot in those TK videos is that they cut jimin out of the clip completely, because as we know almost always where jungkook is Jimin will most likely be around and vice versa. So, they hate him, they don't care that for Taehyung Jimin is his favourite person, his best friend, his soul mate as they say so themselves, they really have to listen to the song friends some more. VMIN for the win!

The maknae line is powerful, it's beautiful, it's... perfect. Love all 7 members equally, always. VMINKOOK!

Something I also noticed is that if you defend Jimin many will accuse you of being an akgae, a solo stan. You just can't defend Jimin it seems, from the hate, bullying and harassment that many accounts and pages do against him on a daily basis. The so called big twitter accounts don't do or say anything, but curiously when it comes to another member they do, they defend them (as it should be) against things not so serious or at least not compared to what jimin has to face almost daily on social media. And when they do... they are forced to quit a job for which they weren’t being paid, as happened to one of the biggest streamers in the fandom, btsaeso. 

Fuck that. BTS is a group made up of 7 people, defending one person when something bad happens, when someone is attacking him on social media doesn't make you any of those things, it makes you a good fan, a decent person. If someone defending only jimin bothers you, I think you're the OT6.

The other reason is envy. This is perhaps the most understandable, jimin is good at almost everything. His stage presence is unmatched. He has a heavenly voice, he's ridiculously attractive. Jimin is simply too powerful, I understand why many are intimidated by him, why many envy him and because they will never be like him, especially in being a good person, they choose to hate him.

It's really unfair to hate him, Jimin loves his fans, Jimin is always working and improving his art to show his fans only the best.

love jimin, we only see stars like him shine every thousand years.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

This is why I think BH needs to speak out about Toxic TK shippers. My friend doesn't know BTS really and saw MTV Unplugged. She called and said BTS is the group you like, I finally watched them, who's your fav. I said Jimin, V and JK. Her first comment, isn't JK the possessive/jealous one over the Tae guy? I was like what? She said she looked up BTS videos after Unplugged and saw lots of videos titled JK being jealous over Tae. She said it turned her off from him, until I explained its all lies

And this, exactly, is what I was trying to get across with my post about Jungkook and the way he is represented by (toxic) shippers (of both JK+ML ships) which, like anon’s story shows, is simply doing him a huge disservice. Because we know he isn’t the person those clickbait titles and trashy videos make him out to be. But those new to Bangtan? Those curious to know more about them and being recommended these videos? Baby ARMYs getting into ships, by chance or on purpose because a particular pairing caught their eye, and are being fed these things which are tragically untrue and unjust? They don’t know. They might believe it. Many really do believe it. And sadly, only a few eventually realize that this gross mischaracterization is not real.

This is a conversation I feel like we’re having every other month, or even every other week. Those videos are toxic, portray the maknaes in abusive, harmful/hurtful and toxic ways, oversexualize and villainize them, and unfortunately, it’s done in a way that manages to convince people that it’s reality, even though it isn’t. Anon, I’m so sorry that those videos had to be your friend’s first “proper” introduction/impression of Jungkook after the masterpiece that was MTV Unplugged though I’m glad she had you to explain it all away. Which is something many unfortunately do not. It’s why I’ve said, time and time again, that I’m strongly against those videos and recommend staying as far away from them as possible.

Ship whoever you like, frankly, I don’t care, which I’ve also said plenty of times. I do care about the members though, about their real bonds, their personalities (the degree of them we’re privileged enough to get to know), their talents and artistry, and the things they have to say. Whenever I speak negatively about a ship or those who fall into the ugly bad-shipper behaviors, I never mean the members themselves, because usually they are not the ones to blame. At all. Jungkook didn’t choose to be “the possessive” one, Jimin didn’t choose to be “the homewrecker” or “the flirty/promiscuous” one, and Tae certainly didn’t choose to be “the one who doesn’t know what he wants/the manipulative” or “the jealous” one.

I don’t like being the one to point fingers but there was (and still is) a huge issue being discussed on twitter and other sns regarding BTS (by ARMY and media across the globe alike) and yet many big accounts focused on one or the other main ML ship were more “worried” about how big OT7 accounts “surely won’t post X ship moments again once Winter Package will be released” because (insert sarcastic nonsense here). It’s moments like these that make it crystal clear who is actually here for the members, their artistry and their message, and who only cares about their ship and proving to everyone that they are married or whatever.

But, regarding what you said about BH. The thing is that, unless shippers cross the line is a way that truly puts the members in real danger (physical or mental or both), there is basically no likelihood of them saying anything at all, ever. Ships (as in two members being together in a photoshoot or interacting in other content) are a marketing tool after all from a company point of view. Tae saying something was monumental, all things considered, and yet in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t really do…anything.

The unfortunate thing is, even if BH were to post a white background, black text announcement tomorrow denouncing T/K shippers and ask them to stop with the videos and everything, do you know how (toxic) shippers would react? They would take it as grand confirmation that they’ve been right all along, that BH is hiding their ship, that they are restricting them, and that this is actually just a hidden message for shippers that they are on the right track. It wouldn’t discourage them; it would likely somehow just lead to even more (borderline or worse) invasive analysis videos and posts putting every twitch of Tae’s or JKs muscles under a microscope to prove that BH is lying.

Sounds bizarre, doesn’t it? And yet we all know it’s true. And all of this counts for both ML ships involving him.

The unfortunate reality of it all is that those toxic shippers who twist the members words and personalities to feed their agenda would not be stopped by any announcement, and they would also likely not stop even if one or both halves of their ship would ask them to stop in 100% clear words that would leave no room for “different interpretations/translation”. Because frankly, they don’t care. Those people who make those videos your friend saw? They earn way too much to willingly stop. And even if they would, their toxic theories have spread too far and even having their channels terminated wouldn’t help anymore.

I love BTS and I love JK and truly it makes me sad how some people treat him, how they misrepresent his character, how they manipulate his words and gestures and facial expressions, and how they seem so misguidedly unable to see, appreciate and love the true sweet, kind and talented boy that he is beneath all their made up fantasies and clickbait titles.

[atiny-exol]

Yandere! Ateez! Reaction to their s/o yells/curse at them after a punishment

Warnings: this contains yandere behavior, tocix relationships, blood, torture, abuse and strong language

~If you don't like that. Don't read it~

Hongjoong

Usually Hongjoong won't punish you with something more hurtful than spanking but today you really pissed him off

You tried to use his kindness against him and to sneak out, and after that you lied to him

There is nothing that would make him more angry

You tried to argue with him but he doesn't care as you struggle against him

After your spanking session, you are a crying mess but you still had the urge to fight against him

So you yelled at him that he is a sick bastard

He would look at you with an emotionless look and this moment you knew you fucked up

Slaps you across the face

Takes your privileges away

All of them

No walking, just crawling

No talking just barking/meowing

No eating from a plate just a bowl

You do nothing without his permission

If you want to behave like an disrespecting pet you are treated like one

Hongjoong always tried to be nice, but if you can't appreciate this he won't be that nice again

,,What did you just say?" Hongjoong asks you with an dangerously calm voice. You gulped hardly as you saw his dark and unreadable look, you knew that you overstepped a line right now, a line you shouldn't have ignored. ,,I.. I.. I'm-" Without letting you end your sentence he slapped you across the face and pushed you down his lap on the ground, causing you to hiss and whine in pain. As you wanted to look up to him he pushed you down with his foot. ,,Don't even think about trying to get out of this mutt. I will teach some real manners now."

Seonghwa

He took you outside to a very fancy restaurant

Because oyu behaved so well the last months

But then you you made one clear mistake and this was talking with he waiter, even if Seonghwa told you not to talk to anyone

As soon as you entered your shared house and the door closed behind you two

Seonghwa unleashed the beast and punished you

Unlike Hongjoong he is very physical and would make you bleed and cry

You broke his number one rule

After the whole torture, you layed on the floor crying and begging him to stop and he would make fun of you

You couldn't doo it anymore and yelled at him that you hate him, that you didn't do something wrong after all

And Seonghwa snarky, sarcastic site would disappear and he would get more angry than he is already

This punishment doesn't last just for this day, he will repeat that till you won't say something like that again

You hurted him and now he hurts you just like you deserve

Slowly the door of the basement opened and you knew excatly who it was, you didn't have to look up anymore and you wouldn't dare to look up, he didn't allowed you to do that yet. You learned some things the last days, never yell at him and when he is angry don't do anything without his permission,it would end more horrible than the punishments before. ,,Look at me." Obediently you looked up to him, facing a smiling Seonghwa, but just as you thought he might be nicer now and your punishment is over, a harsh slap hits your face,befire he speaks coldy to you. ,,Why don't we try something new today."

Yunho

Always tries to be nice to you

He would never hurt you physically

But he would hurt you mentally

He tortures your loved ones infront of you if you misbehave

And one time, it was clearly at the beginning of your relationship excatly this happened

After he was done you looked at him horrified and you shake in fear

The only thing you thought about was that he is a monster

And this is what you yelled at him

Immediately his gaze darks after the word left your mouth and he would lean down to you

Whispering darkly into you ear that he can show you what a monster is capable of

If you say he is a monster because he killed your best friend what will you say when he kills one of your closest family members

You will never make this mistake twice, I mean if you don't want your family to be dead very soon

,,Look at me doll!" he yelled at you as he holds the knife against the neck on your best friend. Terrified and shaking in fear you looked at him and the teary and empty eyes of your friend. ,,You know why I do this right? You know that it's your fault right?" He giggled before he cuts the skin of his victim multiple times. Tears after tears streamed down your face and you begged him to stop, but he didn't listen to you. It is a punishment after all.

San

You argued with San because he was constantly flirting with someone else

He was so cold towards you, not giving attention

And it bothered you, because you are used to be his little princess/prince to be the the only one for him and now the jealousy is eating you alive

San yelled at you for your complaining and locked you inside your room specifically for punishments

It's an isolation room

Everything is dark, no light not even a single tone is heard

Once San stepped in the room you yelled at him, cursed and told him how much you hate him, that you think he is a cheater and doesn't love you anymore and San would snap

He would leave you alone again, just feed you the necessary amount of food and water

He is angry and if you think he is a cheater he will be a cheater

One night he enters the room and looks at your broken figure, telling you that his date was so good and the sex was the best he ever had

He would repeat that action till you beg him to stop, you bed him to have mercy and take you beg

You have to apologize for your bratty behavior

Because that that's excatly what is was

You just wanted his attention and now you have nothing

Of course he would take you back and tell you how much he loves you

Bur he would also tell you that if you say soemthing like that again, he would replace you

It's a lie but you dont have to know this right

,, I.. Hate you!! You are such an asshole Choi San! You are probably cheating on me too!"you yelled at him out of frustration of not getting the attention you are used too, he was cold and ignorant the last days and that bothered you more than you would say out loud. ,,I'm a cheater? Just because you didn't get attention the last days? You are such a brat y/N!"he yelled back with a dark gaze laying on his face, causing you to back off and hide behind your arms, already getting used to being slapped for this, but to your confusion nothing happened. ,,If you think I'm that cruel. I can be that cruel for you brat. Just watch."

Mingi

He would never lay a single finger on you if it isn't necessary

His punishments are not abusive or bloody just very manipulating

The friends of yours dissappear one by one and you don't know why

Some of them stop talking to you and you don't know why

Everyone is ignoring you and you don't know why

The answer is easy it's mingis fault

He is the reason behind all of that and once you find that out you would yell at him of course

Because why would a person with a normal mind do that

What you don't know is that this makes everything worse

Not only everyone would ignore you everyone will hate you from now on

He manipulates everyone and everything

You can't live without him. And this will just stop if you take your hurtful words back

Because Mingi doesn't like to do that either, but he know that this is necessary so you begin to love him

If you don't have anyone besind him there is no other way then loving him

,,M.. Mingi.. Please w.. Whatever you do stop it.. I.. I'm sorry I'm really sorry.."you sobbed out infront of the tall guy, feeling embarrassed because you had to run after him for his forgiveness. ,,You look pathetic while you cry little one you know that?" Gently he forces your head up and looks at you with a soft look. ,,I may forgive you, but if you say soemthing like that again I will make your life a living hell."

Yeosang

His punishments are always cruel and he would easily break you

But at the beginning you would yell at him after punishments

Cursing and yelling how much you hate him and how sick he is

At first he think it's funny and amusing but after some time passed it really annoys him

I mean you love him and you aren't in a sick kdrama where he has to fight for you

You aren't enemies who hate each over so you should fastly stop with that shit

He doesn't want it anymore and if you won't stop by yourself he willpunish you for every time you yell and curse

It doesn't even have tk be against him

He won't hesitate to break bones and to beat you up, to let you alone and to let you starve

He doesn't play games never

He is always serious so don't let him tell you one thing twice

A strong punsh landed at your stomach and you cry out in pain at his rough treatment. With a loud crash you land on the ground and tears formed in your eyes. ,,I told you to shut the fuck up didn't I? I told you to stop cursing and now? I thought you learned your lesson already." With an annoyed expression he rolled his eyes and unbuckled his belt. ,,but it seems like I have to remind you where your place is."

Wooyoung

He is such a tease

He spoils you with affection, you get everything you want

But you have to behave well

And if you don't behave well he punish you

For small things there a sexual punishments and for bigger mistakes he would spank and humiliate you

If you curse at him after a punishment he will use that against you

If you yell something like I hate you! He acts like it hurts him so much that you can't do soemthing else than apologize

But if you yell at him that he is a sick bastard, a crazy stalker or a monster

Believe me you don't want that

He would humiliate you in every possible way

At the end of his training you won't ask why you have to lick his shoes or why he holds you in chastity

You just accept it

Wooyoung is manipulative, he is a sexual teaser, he would punish you sexual for that

No clothes for you anymore and no touches from him for you

He let you watch how he fuck someone else if it's necessary but it isn't his favorite thing

He often just threats you with that

But he would do it if you won't stop the cursing at him

With an unbothered look, Wooyoung watched the movie of his choice while you layed down infront of him, not wearing anything else than the collar he closed around your neck a while ago. From time to time he would look down to, just checking if you moved an inch or looked at soemthing else then the ground. Before the movie ends he looked at you one last time, smiling satisfied at the view infront of him, petting your head gently. ,,See it isn't that hard to be a good pet right?"

Jongho

There was one time he snapped at you for talking with someone else

It was the first and only time he got physically abusive and after he slapped you, you yelled at him

How much you hate him for that and that you would never forgive him that

This was the moment Jongho regrets his action

He hates himself for hurting you, because thats the only thing he never wanted

He wants to protect you, that you trust him and that you just need him

But he failed

Starts to cry and to beg you to forgive him but if you say no

He wouldn't let you go

You can hate him like you want

You can kick him, slap him and call him a monster

You can say that you hate him

But he will never let you go

Because he tries to make everything right again

He tries to be a better boyfriend and to protect you

The first slap on your cheek hits you surprisingly, and both you and Jongho looked at each over with pure shook. You because your soft boyfriend slapped you and him because he couldn't believe that he hurted you. Immediately he backed off and teared formed in his eyes as he stuttered an apology, but you just looked away. ,,.. That.. Was too much Jongho." you whispered under your quiet sobbing before you turned around, warning to leave, but Jonghos firm grip on your wrist stopped you. ,,.. I can't let you go.."

[jacewilliams1]

Why I love it, why I hate it: Cessna 210

Every airplane model has a personality; some even have a stereotype. The V-tail Bonanza is either a joy to fly (according to owners) or a doctor killer (according to the internet). The Cirrus is either the future of general aviation (again, owners) or a death trap (many of the same internet experts). Beauty is most certainly in the eye of the beholder when it comes to airplanes.

So when a friend recently asked what I thought of the Cessna 210 Centurion, I hesitated. I felt qualified to offer an opinion since I flew one for about five years in the early 2000s, but I also felt obligated to go beyond cliches. I have very fond memories of the 210, but it is a love it/hate it type of airplane – its strengths are unique, and its weaknesses are maddening. (Note that I’m excluding the pressurized P210 model, which is an entirely different animal, and exhaustively analyzed by Richard Collins here.)

Love it

First, the reasons to love a Cessna 210. While many pilots obsess about cruise speed or short field takeoff length, I always found the 210’s incredible load-hauling ability to be a breakthrough in performance. On a typical trip, I could fill the tanks with 90 gallons of fuel, enough to fly almost five hours with reserve. Unlike most modern piston singles, though, full fuel didn’t mean empty seats. I could still put almost 1000 lbs. in the cabin, and I often did. That meant four 200 lb. adults and lots of baggage, something that isn’t possible with most Bonanzas or Saratogas. With less than full fuel, I could stay in the envelope even with six adults and bags. The back two seats in a 210 are not exactly spacious, but they work well for shorter flights or for kids.

Those cantilevered wings can haul a lot of fuel and passengers.

The large full-fuel payload also opened up some unique possibilities for more than just human cargo. With one of the middle seats removed, the cabin could accommodate all kinds of gear. I once flew two people and a complete, 4 ft.-long cornhole set (Google it – it’s a lawn game) to Put-in-Bay, a small island in Lake Erie. Some friends in an Aztec and a 182 couldn’t find a way to make it work, but it was easy in the Centurion. For the same reason, many check-hauling operations flew 210s for years, criss-crossing the country at night with cabins stuffed full of canceled checks. With the strut-free high wing, cargo loading was painless. The 210 was the original “if it fits, it ships” airplane.

The flexibility in the cabin led to another character trait: its truck-like handling. Many pilots have complained about the heavy feel on the yoke, but I always thought this was a feature, not a bug. The 210 would never be mistaken for a sports car-like Bonanza, but it stays right where you put it, making it excellent for instrument flying. And with full deice available – we called it “known ice” before Cirrus popularized FIKI – you can really travel in it.

A trip into Washington Dulles one day in 2004 sold me on the airplane. First, I had the pleasure of flying an honest-to-goodness holding pattern, one of only two I’ve ever flown for real in my 24 years of flying. ATC was nice, but it was clear that I needed to spend some time in the penalty box while the unbroken line of airliners blew past me. Of course I was IMC, of course there was a little ice, and of course there were a few bumps over the eastern edges of the Appalachian Mountains. I won’t say it was fun, but it was certainly no big deal in the 210. The TKS deice fluid kept the wing reasonably clean and the airplane stayed steady in the light to moderate turbulence.

When I was released after four turns in the hold, the controller asked what speed he could expect from me on final. I knew he was bracing for an inconveniently low number, so I was proud to surprise him with 150 knots. The 210 I flew, a 1980 model with no rear gear doors, boasted a maximum gear speed at the bottom of the yellow arc, so I used the landing gear like a speed brake. Coming into Washington, I kept the power up until three-mile final, then dropped the gear and ten degrees of flaps. In no time I was slowed below 100 knots and made a smooth landing on the two-mile long runway at IAD. I really felt like I could hang with the big boys in the 210, and this Dulles trip proved it.

Passengers seemed to enjoy the 210 as well. With no wheels or struts in the way, the view out the window was unparalleled and sightseeing on a long trip was good fun. Without my saying anything, passengers’ noses always seemed to be pressed against the glass right after takeoff. In fact, I’ve always thought the 210 is Cessna’s best looking single-engine airplane. Loyal Cardinal owners may disagree, but it just looks sleek on the ramp.

Hate it

Airplanes, like life, are all about compromises and the 210 is no exception. High on the list of reasons to hate the airplane is maintenance. A new owner who approaches annual inspection with a 172 mindset will be quickly disappointed. The fuel system is complicated, turbocharged models need a little extra TLC, and some parts are hard to find. Many 210s have also lived hard lives as freight airplanes and have the skimpy maintenance history to prove it.

The gear is innovative, but complicated.

Without question, though, the weak point of a Cessna 210 is the landing gear. It’s a complicated dance to get those wheels folded into the fuselage of a high-wing airplane, and the resulting system demands good maintenance. An inexperienced mechanic who misses a minor squawk can create a much bigger problem when one wheel doesn’t come down in flight. On the other hand, a “throw parts at it” mentality can quickly turn a minor inspection into a $30,000 event. Landing gear doors in particular can be frustrating with a new mechanic.

From the pilot’s perspective, there are also compromises. Compared to a Cirrus SR22, Cessna’s top-of-the-line single is complicated, with gear, prop, and cowl flap controls to manipulate. A typical after-takeoff flow for me in the 210 was to count 1-2-3 twice: three handles and three levers. That meant gear up, flaps up, confirm cowl flaps open; then throttle reduced, prop RPM reduced, mixture leaned. In a Cirrus the only thing to do is raise the flaps and enjoy the view. Certainly all those levers are manageable in the Cessna, but it does require extra work – work that can quickly add up during single pilot IFR flights. The accident record shows that quite a few 210s land gear up every year, and while some of those are caused by mechanical failure, many are caused by inattention and poor procedures. Such an accident isn’t possible in a Cirrus.

Not coming back

The original Cessna 210 was certified 60 years ago, and went through dozens of design changes over its 27-year run. What started out as a bump-nosed airplane with strut-braced wings evolved into a sleek cross-country traveler. And yet 33 years after it went out of production, there is no modern version of the Cessna 210. Cessna brought back the 172 and 182, but not the 210. Why?

The unfortunate reality is Cessna couldn’t make a 210 today – at least not one that would sell. Cessna always hinted that the fully cantilevered wing was expensive to make, and it’s notable that all of the single-engine airplanes currently manufactured by Cessna feature strut-braced wings.

Even if the 210 were made in 2019, the full fuel payload would probably be significantly lower under current certification standards. With 26G seats and extra soundproofing, the post-1997 Cessna 172s and 182s have about 25% lower useful loads compared to pre-1986 models. And with new 172s selling for over $400,000, it’s easy to imagine a million dollar 210. Would anyone want a weight-limited, retractable gear piston single for $1 million? Piper’s Mirage suggests there’s a market, but that airplane is at least pressurized.

We’ll never know, because Cessna took the opposite approach, buying the Columbia 350/400 series and trying to out-Cirrus Cirrus. The result was failure and another shuttered production line, even though the airplane was a great performer. Maybe the answer is a high performance high wing, not a low wing composite?

For now, the Centurion flies on as an older but still refined airplane. For the owner who’s serious about maintenance and proficiency, it offers good cruise speed, huge load-hauling capabilities, and honest flying qualities. I’m not sure I want to own one again, but I’d sure love to fly one again.

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The post Why I love it, why I hate it: Cessna 210 appeared first on Air Facts Journal.

from Engineering Blog https://airfactsjournal.com/2019/05/why-i-love-it-why-i-hate-it-cessna-210/