Yuh know...I owned and flew a 310 for 15 years.
Never even got close to something like that.
You keep a 310 high and close in, drop the barn door flaps on short final, point the nose at the numbers and you can grease it on just fine.
If the tower puts you on a long final behind somebody, you just fly it to the fence. Keep the power up (20” MP, 2600 RPM), 30 deg flaps to short final, then dump them to full 45 deg.
Not the best way to fly a VFR approach but safe.
Never had a problem. Home field was a 3800’ strip in an urban area and usually was off on the midfield taxiway.
It’s a great airplane, but you do have to fly it.
Maybe you can clear up something for me. I had heard that among the light twins, compared to the 310, only the Aerostar's fuel system was more demanding.
Regardless, could there have been a mechanical problem with the fuel system that took too much attention/time/altitude to solve and/or did the pilot mis-select pumps or tanks on the ground and then didn't catch his mistake?
Sometimes even a competent pilot gets distracted. I flew with a very competent pilot who, out of habit, grabbed the handle to raise the flaps during the roll out after landing in his brand new Aztec E.
Unfortunately, habit got that one wrong and it was the gear handle he grabbed, not the flaps. Oops...