Found vs C-206, and C-185 (Doors)

--original posting date November 4, 2005--

Most people in the market for a float plane have these options for a plane that can haul 4 passengers with thier gear, which to choose?

I have never gone direct head to head with either a 206 or 185 for performance or load but have observed thier operations many times compared to the Found.

The truth about the Found is that most operators know what a 206 or 185 can do, but are unsure of the abilities of a new aircraft like the Found and dont want to invest a lot of money in an unproven plane. We took the risk of trying it out first and I can tell you that its the only 4 passenger float plane that I would ever operate.

The utility of the Found is much user friendly than either of the cessnas begining with the doors. It simply has more and bigger doors than either the C-206 or 185. In fact its rear doors are bigger than standard DHC-2 beaver doors. I once was able to put a window in the Found that the local beaver operator could not fit through the door.

We own a plain flap version Found and the Fowler. Its as if Found didnt have big enough doors with the Plain Flap version they actually made the rear doors bigger with the Fowler flap version. Not kidding you could get a washing machine(without the box) into the rear of a Found. Thats what most people need to haul out to thier cabin of course.

The 206 has 2 doors on the right side that open up for cargo, it can fit very big items in there as well, but for loading and unloading on docks you need to be conscious about what side to unload or load from. Found you can just forget because either side works fine.

The 185 well has 3 doors, one for the copilot and pilot and a tiny newspaper door in the back. To get bulky items in the 185, have to take the door off with the quick pins because you have that strut in the way. Then after a few boxes you realize that the space in the 185 fills quickly. I believe that you can put a C-185 door in a Found but you cant put the rear door of the Found in a 185.

Last edited by Glen (Jan-19-2010 17:37:00)