Every now and then, the stars align between opportunity, a capable roster of participants, more than a sprinkling of creativity, and an unshakable perseverance to make a project truly unique and wonderful. This is one of those alignments, and while not the typical aircraft one might see in ACI Jet’s business jet repair station, it rests high on the list of memorable projects nonetheless.
The aircraft subject is a 1977 Cessna 340A, a pressurized twin-piston aircraft first introduced in 1971. A true “cabin-class” aircraft capable of what remains impressive speed and range. The Cessna 340 quickly secured its spot as one of the most sought after GA aircraft of the 20th Century. Now, in 2021, not much has changed, although an investment in modernized avionics, some aftermarket modifications and a fresh interior might be in store for many of them.
Once featured in Twin Cessna Flyer Magazine (April 2013), this Cessna 340A (N222RD, serial number 366) spent much of its life as a commuter aircraft for a doctor in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Ear, Nose and Throat doctor, Adam Shapiro, used the aircraft to shuttle between offices and to fly his family around the Caribbean Islands. In 2015, the aircraft would serve a very familiar role, shuttling its new owner between office locations and acting as a family “station wagon” when acquired by William “Bill” Borgsmiller, founder and Chief Executive Officer of California-based business jet maintenance, FBO and charter provider ACI Jet. Bill, an avid aviator with more than 6,000 hours of flight time with 2,000 hours in piston aircraft, flies his Cessna 340A regularly and is a vocal supporter of investing in light general aviation. The aircraft was an upgrade from his 1970 Cessna 310.
As ACI Jet has operations and business interests in locations including Southern California and along the Central Coast of California in San Luis Obispo County, seamless and timely connections between them are critical. Bill’s C340 hits the airways weekly, sometimes multiple times per week, and takes him and others where they need to be quickly and safely. Bill jokes that with as many trips as he’s done between the company’s headquarters and home in San Luis Obispo and its largest FBO at John Wayne Airport, Orange County, California, “the aircraft can almost fly itself down to Orange County now.”
Above all, the aircraft faithfully carries Bill and his family to his hometown in Northern California and beyond – often just to get out and go flying.
The reality is that with proper care and maintenance, airframes can essentially last forever. Bill realized that with a substantially upgraded panel, he would gain the added safety, navigational resources, and engine performance information a newer airframe could offer but with an aircraft that has already been serving him well. He’d also be modernizing the aircraft to remove fuel and oil lines that fed directly to the aircraft’s instrument panel – a safety upgrade that Bill sought to accomplish with newer, electronic instruments. A few functional upgrades to bring the jet aesthetic to the flight deck would make it fly like the newest aircraft off the lot.
Beginning in January of 2019 and culminating 13 months later in February of 2020 (when owning and operating a private aircraft reminded us of its importance with the dawn of the COVID-era), the ACI Jet maintenance and avionics teams would remove more than 80 pounds of wiring from the C340. The team redesigned and reengineered the entire flight deck, and tested the shop’s customization capabilities, including carbon fiber molding, 3D printing and advanced sheet metal fabrication, plus installed an entirely new Garmin touchscreen (TXi) flight deck.
The primary objectives were to consolidate engine indications into an electronic display, modernize the panel to include electroluminescent indicators and push-button LED annunciators, and to maximize efficiency for Bill or any of ACI Jet’s pilot-employees flying the aircraft. However, with an aircraft that has systems packed together in a small package, as components were removed or replaced, opportunities for further improvements or cleanup abounded – the “unraveling of the sweater,” as Glenn Mauk, ACI Jet’s lead avionics technician put it.
All-in, at the completion of the project a year later, there would be 11 Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM) supplements and a number of deviations from the Supplemental Type Certificates (STCs) requiring extensive engineering, designs, installation mounting templates, miles and miles of wiring marked with the repair station’s Laselec MRO 200 wire marker and digital wiring diagrams – all to aid not only the maintenance at hand but for all future maintenance.
With panels removed, corresponding inspections and other maintenance opportunities scheduled, further opportunities for improvement arose. It became a “choose your own adventure story” according to Brian Ford, ACI Jet’s avionics manager and technical sales director. “Nearly every day there was an ‘if not now, when?’ moment. Something that would be difficult to do now, both from the standpoint of shop time and with a hangar full of business jets, would be impossible later once we buttoned up the aircraft,” he continued. “The other thing to remember is that even small improvements, whether it be a change in a plug type or different kind of fastener for an application, require engineering documentation, diagrams, AFM supplements at times and mechanical or electrical DERs. Sometimes even from a switch that went up and down to one that goes in and out.”
Other unplanned but opportune upgrades included 3D printed scupper drains for nacelle baggage access doors, a brand new, carbon fiber overhead panel designed and fabricated by one of ACI Jet’s maintenance technicians, Tyler Kirk, and panel labeling for the Envision Avionics Panel designed by ACI Jet’s marketing and communications department to ensure character spacing and style was optimized for ease of reading in all operational conditions. It was truly a team effort, and the end product shows just how big and capable that team was.
The project also proved that refurbishment isn’t just for business jets. Bill’s Cessna 340A features a feel of flying nearly identical to any new piston aircraft, yet on an airframe born when he was. With the new interior scheduled for next year, which will be modeled after business jet interiors designed by his company, it’ll feel like a brand new aircraft in the back, too.
This model applies to all kinds of aircraft, and in an era defined by the pursuit of sustainability and good stewardship, it’s worth it for every owner to explore incremental upgrades before airframe replacements. Garmin Aviation has a new suite of avionics that integrates well into many piston aircraft, and their entry into the Citation business jet scene has been disruptive, to say the least. A lean investment by bizjet standards can yield big dividends in-flight data, efficiency, safety and resale value.
Light aircraft like Bill’s 340A proved over the last year that business and general aviation serve a critical role in our world. When the aviation infrastructure softens, private flying can keep the economy on track. It’s not just the large-cabin business jets either, though their contribution to flying during the COVID-era can’t be understated. From single-engine Cessnas and helicopters to twins and turbines, GA picked up the slack when the commercial airlines began to falter.
When we finished the installation of Bill’s new Garmin panel and the host of other upgrades, fixes, tweaks and even a few surprises, we felt it deserved to be commemorated. We have a tradition in the ACI Jet MRO: mission patches. When we finish a major project like our installation of the first JetWave internet system on a Challenger 604 or there’s a major company milestone like our selection as a Bombardier Authorized Service Facility (ASF), we create a patch for the whole maintenance team.
This patch was special and features our mantra by the time we completed the project: “We might as well have sent the aircraft to outer space.” It features Bill’s Cessna 340A atop a liquid fuel tank, complete with solid rocket boosters, on its way to space. The stars in the sky represent the 12 technicians of our more than 40 who worked directly on the project for more than 100 hours each. Audible from the flight deck: “Is it ready yet?” While always respectful in his delivery, it’s a phrase we heard quite a bit from Bill throughout the process as he was eager to get his prized aircraft back where it belonged.