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The Cessna 340A is a six-seat, twin piston engine, pressurized business aircraft produced by the US-American manufacturer
Cessna Aircraft Company. Development of the 340 started first as Model 330, with the idea of a ligth twin based on the
Cessna 411, but soon, the project changed into Model 340, a pressurized light twin based loosely on the Cessna 310. Work
on the 340 began in 1969, the fuselage had the same basic shape as the 310, but was completely redesigned due to pressurization
requirements. The wing of the Model 340 was the same as the 414, as the flaps and ailerons were. Also the landing gear was the same as
the 414, but the horizontal and vertical stabilizer, elevator and rudder were the same as the 310; minor changes in the 310 tail even
made it interchangeable with the 340. The 340 was equiped with two 285 hp turbocharged Continental TSIO-520-K fuel injected engines
with three-bladed propellers. The Cessna 340 was flown first in April 1970, but on 10 April 1970, the prototype Cessna 340 N2340C (s/n 672)
was destroyed in a fatal crash near Kingman Airport (Clyde Cessna Field) 1 mile North West of Kingman, Kansas, whilst on a test flight.
With the second prototype Cessna 340 (s/n 673) that was registered N4571L on 10 August 1970, the test program was resumed and FAA
certification was received on 15 October 1971. The same year the first aircraft was delivered, behind schedule because the crash of one
of the prototypes. The 340 was manufactured from 1972 through 1975. The 340A was introduced in model year 1976. The original 340 was underpowered
with the engines delivering 285 hp each. A further development of Model 340 was Model 340A, that was equiped with two 310 hp turbocharged
Continental TSIO-520-NB fuel injected engines. FAA certification for Model 340A was received on 19 November 1975. Cessna kept the Model 340
in production through 1984. When the last aircraft came off the line, Cessna had built 1,287 Model 340 and Model 340A aircraft. A number of
various engine modifications, mostly from RAM Aircraft, increased available horsepower to as much as 335 hp per side and many of the Cessna 340
and 340A aircraft are modified. In 1985, Cessna Aircraft Company ceased to be an independent company. It was purchased by General Dynamics
Corporation and became a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1992, General Dynamics sold Cessna to Textron Inc. and on 29 July 2015, the company name
changed to Textron Aviation Inc., Wichita, Kansas.
The ICAO code for the Cessna 340A is C340 |
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The 1978-built Cessna 340A s/n 340A0541 was registered as N1MT in the USA. On 9 November 1987, the aircraft was registered SE-KCA in Sweden with
BF Scandinavian Aviation Academy, Vasteras. On 20 January 2005, registration SE-KCA was cancelled as exported to Germany, where the aircraft was
registered D-ICBB. Today, Cessna 340A D-ICBB is operated by Aerodata International Surveys.
On 20 March 2018, Cessna 340A D-ICBB was seen
at Flugplatz Nordhorn-Lingen "Klausheide" in Germany. That period, the aircraft was operated out of Flugplatz Nordhorn-Lingen (EDWN) on aerial
photography / geophysical survey operations next to its sistership Cessna 402B D-ISAV. |
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