Page 7 - Volume 16 Number 8

A 340NACitation owner, having the 310’s empennage, augmentedobviously progressed farbeyond such pedestrian transport, innocently referred to our arriving Cessna 340A by remarking “It’s a nice little starter twin. I used to have one of those.” For my part, I thought we had showed up in high style.It may be some folks’ idea of a starter airplane, but Cessna’s 340 is nevertheless quite a desirable personal airliner. The 340 offers a comfortable cabin-class interior, 4.2 PSI pressurization, decent speed and enough range to hop halfway across the country. Upgrades are available to enhance its capability, and as long as one respects its limitations, it’ll serve well for business and personal travel.Cessna began development of the 340 in 1970, hard on the heels of the 421 and 414 pressure-twins. Certification was achieved on October 15, 1971, as an amendment to the dormant Cessna 320’s type certificate; the 320 was simply a turbocharged 310 and by the 1970s Cessna had dropped the 320 pretence and simply sold the aircraft as a T310.Beech Aircraft had already fielded its Duke as a fast pressurized personal-size twin, and Cessna was needing something in a size smaller than the big 414 wide-body hauler. Pressurizing the 310 was the obvious solution, but impractical; the 310’s over-wing door had to go, and once that point had been conceded it was better to design a new fuselage. Thus, the 340 rode on the 310/320 wing, shared the predecessor’s powerplants and landing gear, and used most ofAUGUST 2012TWIN & TURBINE • 5by extra dorsal and ventral fin area.About 1,300 Cessna 340’s and 340A’s were built from 1972 to 1984, mostly in the boom times of the late 1970s. After 1985, Cessna left the piston twin business forever. Had the tough times of the 1980s never happened, and Cessna had been able to continue development of the T303 Crusader into stretched and pressurized versions, the 310 and 340 models would have been retired with a proper gold watch. But, that never happened.The airplane was initially introduced with 285-hp TSIO- 520-K engines; it didn’t take 340 buyers long to plead for more power. The 340A came along in 1976 with the 414’s 310-hp TSIO- 520-N engines, but even that wasn’t enough. Most 340/340A’s have now been enhanced to 325 or 335 horsepower and STC’d to enable another 300-400 pounds of takeoff weight. Extra fuel tankage, vortex generators and speed brakes are common add-ons as well.By starting with the Turbo 310’s 285-hp engines, the 340 gained a reputation for being a bit underpowered. Climb rate sagged above the 16,000-foot critical altitude and single-engine performance was nothing to write home about, even though the airplane could maintain 12,000 feet with a prop feathered. Cessna published a 250- fpm sea level engine-out climb rate, but as most twin owners know, getting that meager ascent requires precise technique and cooperative atmospheric conditions.