Aviation ballpark or touchdown meaning8/25/2023 It looked like a pressurized 310, which it was in a way. The original 340 came out in 1972 with 285 HP per side. However, as with a 310 or Baron, its not considered forgiving of the hamfisted. Its reasonably fast for the power and has handling that experienced pilots enjoy. Theres no other way to describe the Cessna 340A than as an attractive personal aerial hotrod. Only about 305 T303s were built and because this model has few parts in common with other Cessnas, were told that parts availability can be a problem. The airstair door was a problem until users learned to hold on to the chain when letting it down or until snubbers were installed to protect the hinges from over-extension damage. The airplane has a long overboard exhaust pipe thats prone to cracking and should be checked every 50 hours.įor an airplane initially viewed as being too light for the rigors of the real world, we dont hear of consistent problems with components breaking. Although the exhaust system AD that affects the other twin Cessnas doesnt apply to the Crusader, you still need to mind the exhaust system. Many owners have refurbished their 303s to higher standards.Īs high-performance twins go, the 303s operating costs are average, which is to say expensive. The drive to keep weight down resulted in cabin appointments that are, in our view, somewhat tacky. The flight deck is well appointed and the cabin is of adequate size, but only just. When letting down, the ability to drop the gear and approach flaps at 175 KIAS means never having to chill the engines. The responsive handling means that a functioning autopilot is nice to have in cruise any control input bumps the airplane off altitude or heading. It takes a tug then a quick relaxing of the backpressure to avoid a pitch bobble on departure. The landing gear configuration causes most pilots to have trouble smoothly lifting the nosewheel on takeoff and transitioning to the climb. Single-engine handling is straightforward and Vmc is so low (65 KIAS) that only a feckless dolt would lose control when flying on one. The airplane will realistically cruise at 170 knots down low and 190 knots up high.Ī T303 can be slowed to below 90 knots with confidence on a circling approach, and gets in and out of fairly short runways as a result. And the airplane wasnt as fast as a 310.Īlthough no slouch, the Crusader doesnt match the later 310s speed simply because it has a bit less horsepower. The 303 had perhaps the finest handling of any twin ever built, but the merciless quest to make it light resulted in amenities that seemed cheap in an airplane that was anything but. Some loved it while others preferred the 310. The result, produced for the 1982 through 1984 model years, was best described as interesting. Early development indicated that it wouldnt exceed the performance of the Piper, Grumman and Beech twins by enough to make it worth doing so Cessna turned the airplane into a sophisticated, cabin-class replacement for the 310. In the 1970s, Cessna planned to get on the light-light twin bandwagon with the model 303. But that leaves plenty to choose from because say what you might about Cessna, the company had a cabin-class twin for every mission and price point, far outdistancing Piper or Beech in variety if not quality. Ditto the 404, which well mention only in passing. We cant devote an entire issue to cabin class twins so well be breaking the species into smaller helpings, beginning with Cessnas offerings this time around.Īnd well omit a few, such as the Cessna Bobcat-yeah, we know, you never heard of it-and the Cessna 335 because so few were built. And not some clunker Apache, either, but a cabin-class job, maybe with known ice protection and pressurization.īut guess what? Even more so than with light twins, the choices in this class of airplane are staggering. Your ship has come in youve unloaded it for a healthy pile of cash and now you can buy a high-performance twin.
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