Cessna 340

cmill

Cold Ass Honky
Long story short, looks like I'll be doing some flying in a 340 with a ram VI conversion. At first I was kind of excited, new airplane and all, but after looking at the books the thing just looks like a major pain in the ass.

I think the longest legs it will probably be doing is in the 500NM range, but it'll be loaded down with 4pax, golf clubs, and luggage.

I guess I was wondering what are some realistic expectations as far as performance is concerned. I'm looking at a 1700 useful load with only about 700lbs to spare for fuel. The book shows about 2.5 endurance at 600lbs, is that pretty close to real life? Also, whats a pretty realistic speed? Supposedly 230kts@FL250 is doable, but I have my doubts.

Any bugaboos I should watch out for?
 
230kts @ FL250 is not doable, as the airplane usually can't climb that high when heavy.
 
The best I was ever able to get out of a 340 was 190KTAS, at FL190. It's been several years though, and I believe the plane I was in was the Ram IV.
 
230kts @ FL250 is not doable, as the airplane usually can't climb that high when heavy.


Thanks. Would you say 18-20 is realistic with a full load? We're trying to get some guys to buy into a partnership and I don't want to sell them a bill of goods.
 
Wrong airplane for that trip. We have series VII ram and I plan 50 gal first hour and then almost 40 gal an hour at about 70%. If you pull it back to long range cruise you can get it down to 30 gal an hour. Our trips are usually less than 300nm and TAS is a little over 190K down low and around 210-215K at FL180. Cabin altitude hits 10,000 around 22K if I remember right. I never had a problem with the airplane not wanting to climb and have had it up to FL240. The problem is the cabin altitude.

With our shorter legs a non-turbocharged Baron would suit us better.
 
Ideally I would tell them to forget about it and get a king air, but theres a serious case of fitting a square peg into a round hole going one here. They're already in a 55 baron, but they want something a little faster and something you're not stuck at 7000 feet going right through the clouds.

I'm worried they're going to spend all this extra money on the plane and not see any real benefit from it as opposed to the baron.
 
Have they considered a 414/421? Of course at that point a King air 90 starts to look pretty good. Actually an AC90 looks even better. You can pick them up for about the same as a 414.
 
I fly a 414 with the same engines. The sweet spot for this particular airplane is FL190 - FL200. Fuel burn is about 18.5 gallons a side. I usually take a full load of fuel (163 gallons), 4 adults and get up to altitude just fine.
 
Have they considered a 414/421? Of course at that point a King air 90 starts to look pretty good. Actually an AC90 looks even better. You can pick them up for about the same as a 414.


Trust me, I've tried the KA angle, hell im even current in it. I guess they're doing it right, because a king air is in the picture, but they wont pull the trigger until they're ready for a 200 in the million dollar range. Also, the 340 is already sitting on our ramp.

They need a Howard 500. Clearly. I've never had more clarity than on that issue. It will carry four, and fuel for 500 miles. It will do better than 190kts too.


Trust me, if it were up to me I would be out making rig calls all day in the 185. Someone has to pretend to be corporate pilot though, and the boss made it clear its not going to be him. I think his exact words were "F that F'ng POS you're flying that MF'er."
 
Trust me, I've tried the KA angle, hell im even current in it. I guess they're doing it right, because a king air is in the picture, but they wont pull the trigger until they're ready for a 200 in the million dollar range. Also, the 340 is already sitting on our ramp.




Trust me, if it were up to me I would be out making rig calls all day in the 185. Someone has to pretend to be corporate pilot though, and the boss made it clear its not going to be him. I think his exact words were "F that F'ng POS you're flying that MF'er."

Aerostar 601P.
 
The 340 is a great 3-4 person airplane + bags, anything more it gets a bit cramped and very doggish. We rarely went into the flight levels; the sweet spot was around 16k-17k. We planned nearly identical to Corporate Pilot numbers (50gph first hour and 41gph there after).
 
I fly a 414 with the same engines. The sweet spot for this particular airplane is FL190 - FL200. Fuel burn is about 18.5 gallons a side. I usually take a full load of fuel (163 gallons), 4 adults and get up to altitude just fine.
What is your climb rate to fl190?
 
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