A RAM-converted 340A, flying since 1980
N2702V left Cessna in 1980 as N2700V. In January 1998, at 1,490.3 hours, RAM Aircraft in Waco rebuilt it as a Series VI conversion: 335 hp remanufactured engines, new McCauley props, an intercooler scoop, vortex generators, a gross weight increase to 6,390 lb and fresh paint. It flew as N5U on the West Coast and then from the Washington, D.C. area for two decades before taking its current registration in 2018. Since 2021 it has been based at Austin Executive Airport, Texas. In 2026, at Avionics Services Inc. in Uvalde, Texas, it is getting a full Garmin glass panel, all-LED exterior lighting, new fuel level senders, new fuel bladders and a new interior.
Identity
- Make / model
- Cessna 340A
- Year
- 1980
- Serial
- 340A-0904
- Registrations
- N2700V → N5U (1/1998) → N2702V (7/2018)
- Conversion
- RAM Series VI (1998)
- Base
- Austin Executive (KEDC) area since 2021
Powerplants
- Engines
- 2 × Continental TSIO-520-NB, RAM-modified, 335 hp (STC SE4327SW)
- Left s/n
- L-234103-R
- Right s/n
- R-519207
- Propellers
- McCauley 3AF32C515, 3-blade, s/n 971717 (L) and 971718 (R)
- Cylinders
- All 12 replaced August 2015
- Turbochargers
- New Hartzell: R 7/2021, L 2/2022
Time and use
- AFTT
- 2,781.6 (5/19/2026)
- Hour meter
- Replaced 7/24/2019 at 2,576.7. AFTT = Hobbs + 2,576.7
- Recent use
- About 25–30 hours a year since 2016
- Hours since RAM
- 1,291.3
- Logbooks held
- Airframe Books 3 and 4, both engine logs, AD records. Books 1 and 2 (1980–1998) are not in this set.
Where it has been
- 1980–1998 · Factory delivery as N2700V. Early owners were actress Julie Bishop and her husband, surgeon Dr. William F. Bergin. Pre-1998 logbooks not in this set; the AD record shows de-ice and fuel system work in 1981–1993 (176.7 to 1,275.1 hours).
- 1998 · RAM Aircraft, Waco TX: Series VI conversion, repaint, re-registered N5U.
- 1998–2002 · Petaluma and Santa Monica, California (Mangon Aircraft Repair, Stealth Aviation).
- 2002–2020 · Manassas and Leesburg, Virginia; Hagerstown, Maryland (Dulles Aviation, Capital Aviation Instruments, Landmark Aviation, Hagerstown Aircraft Services / Plane Care).
- 2018 · Re-registered N2702V (Lancaster Aero, PA).
- 2020–2021 · SkyWorld Aviation, Midland VA; forward locker fuel tanks added in Pennsylvania.
- 2021–present · Austin, Texas (Chuck's Aircraft, Castleberry Instruments, Central Texas Avionics, Grizzly Aviation).
- 2026 · New owner. At Avionics Services Inc., Uvalde TX, for the avionics, lighting, fuel system and interior upgrade.
Current condition at a glance
- Clean May 2026 annual with no open discrepancies listed.
- Compressions at the last annual were 67–78/80 on the left engine and 62–74/80 on the right engine (master orifice 44). All were within limits.
- Most of the right engine exhaust system is new or overhauled (June 2023). AD 2000-01-16 (g) is not due on that side until 2035.
- The heater was disabled in 2024 and returned to service in May 2025 after a passing decay test.
- Both windshields and all cabin windows were refinished in October 2026. The cracked windshield heat plate is being replaced.
- All fuel bladders, tank gaskets and seals have been replaced (2026).
- The de-ice boots work but carry many patches. A full new set is planned after the upgrade.
Julie Bishop and Dr. William F. Bergin
Early logbook entries name actress Julie Bishop and her husband, Los Angeles surgeon Dr. William F. Bergin, as owners of the airplane. Bishop (born Jacqueline Brown, Denver, 30 August 1914) began as a child actress and worked under the name Jacqueline Wells until Warner Bros. renamed her in 1941. Across more than 80 films she appeared in Laurel and Hardy's Any Old Port! (1932) and The Bohemian Girl (1936), The Black Cat (1934), Action in the North Atlantic (1943) with Humphrey Bogart, Rhapsody in Blue (1945), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949) with John Wayne, and the airline drama The High and the Mighty (1954).
Aviation ran through the family. Her second husband, Clarence A. Shoop, flew the first photo-reconnaissance mission over Omaha Beach on D-Day. He commanded Muroc Army Air Field in 1945, then ran flight testing for Howard Hughes and became a vice president of Hughes Aircraft. He also commanded the California Air National Guard until his death in 1968. Their son Steve became a physician and an airline pilot. Bishop married Dr. Bergin in 1968, and they stayed married until her death in Mendocino, California, on her 87th birthday in 2001. Dr. Bergin died in 2005.
The ownership comes from the owner's reading of the early logbook entries, which are not in this scanned set. The biographical details come from public film references.
Items due and items to verify
Hour-based limits are figured from the last recorded airframe time of 2,781.6 (19 May 2026). The aircraft has been down for upgrades since then. Add any hours flown since that annual before relying on hour-based items.
| Item | Last done | Next due | Status | Notes |
|---|
Avionics, lighting, fuel system and interior
The work is being done by Avionics Services Inc., 290 Howard Langford Dr., Uvalde, Texas. The panel scope below comes from their Quote 3 (29 June 2026) and a 27 July 2026 addition. Logbook entries, Form 337s and STC paperwork will be added here when the work is signed off.
Glass panel
Avionics Services Inc., Uvalde TX. Quote 3, 29 June 2026. Certified by Form 337 or STC. Structural antenna mounts covered by Form 8110-3.
- Dual Garmin G600 TXi: two GDU 1060 10.6-inch displays (PFD and MFD) with engine indication
- Two GSU 75 air data/AHRS units with GMU 44B magnetometers
- GCU 485 TXi controller
- Dual Garmin GTN 750Xi GPS/NAV/COM with two GA 35 GPS antennas
- Garmin GFC 600 autopilot: pitch, pitch trim, roll and yaw damper
- Garmin GWX 75 weather radar with configuration module
- Garmin GI 275 standby instrument
- Garmin GMA 35c audio panel
- Garmin GDL 69A SiriusXM weather and audio receiver with antenna
- Flight Stream 510 wireless link to tablets and phones
- Dual GEA 110 engine adapters with full 6-cylinder sensor kits for both engines
- CiES fuel probe kit for the nacelle, aux and tip tanks
- True Blue TA-360C and GSB 15 dual USB charging stations
- Lumatech LED-lit main annunciator and landing gear panels (added 27 July 2026)
- New ELT 1000 emergency locator transmitter system (added 27 July 2026)
Equipment being replaced includes the GNS 480 (CNX80), Avidyne EX500 MFD, ARC 400B autopilot with G-550A flight director, RDR radar, the Artex 121.5 ELT, and the inoperative Apollo SL70 second transponder. The GTX 345 ADS-B In/Out transponder installed in 2021 stays.
Exterior lighting
All exterior lighting is being converted to LED. Fixture makes and models will be listed here from the installation entries. This replaces the original incandescent landing, taxi, nav and beacon lamps and the original strobe system (right power supply overhauled 2004, left flash tube 2018).
Fuel system
- All fuel bladders replaced
- All tank gaskets and seals replaced
- CiES digital fuel level probes in the nacelle, aux and tip tanks, read on the G600 TXi
The RAM fuel flow supplement (FM1043) placards the original fuel quantity gauge as the primary fuel reading. That placard and flight manual language need updating when the CiES probes and engine indication are approved. Fuel calibration and leak checks will be recorded with the bladder work.
Interior
The previous interior was white seats with dark blue carpet. The new specification:
- Cream leather seats with diamond stitching
- Medium slate-blue leather side panels covering the full wall below the windows, diamond-stitched above the armrests
- Off-white window surrounds and headliner
- Carpet still being chosen: a dark navy loop or a lighter grey with a blue figure
The swatches are approximate. In November 2025 the three cabin pressurization ducts to the central valve bypass were replaced and the area was refinished with epoxy primer.
Windshields and windows
Clear 4 Take Off (FAA air agency) worked at Uvalde, Texas. They removed damage from and polished both windshields, all 10 cabin windows and the two foul-weather windows.
Windshield heat plate: the electric heat plate (P/N 9910181-4) is cracked. Textron no longer stocks that part. Replacement kit SK310-114, the same kit installed in 2003, was being ordered through Textron in October 2026 by Avionics Services.
A December 2003 acrylic windshield inspection (Cessna MEB 03-4A) found one suspect hole at the upper left splice plate of the left windshield and recommended a second inspection. The records show no follow-up. Ask for that area to be checked again now that the windshields are refinished.
Paint
The 1998 RAM paint is in good condition and is staying. Once the rest of the work is finished, it will be touched up and ceramic coated. The scheme is Jet Glo White 570-545 with Acry Glo blue trim (HR-10596, HT-10499), with red stripes and N-number outline added in 2007.
De-ice boots
A full ship set from TAS Aviation is quoted. The current boots are functional but patched many times. Records: new right horizontal stabilizer boot in 2003, conductive coating renewed in 2007, new surface de-ice timer and overhauled regulator valve in 2010.
Service history, 1998–2026
Every substantive entry from airframe Books 3 and 4 and both engine logs, condensed. Routine oil changes with no findings are grouped. Times are airframe total time unless marked.
Airworthiness Directives
The AD compliance record from the logbooks, plus a current check of directives for the 340A, the TSIO-520-NB and the installed appliances. Recurring ADs show their next due point.
| AD | Subject | Applies to | Status | Compliance / next due |
|---|
Service Bulletins
Bulletins recorded as complied with in the logbooks, followed by bulletins and recommendations that apply to this aircraft but have no compliance entry. Under Part 91, service bulletins are not mandatory unless an AD requires them, but most of these bear on value and reliability.
Complied with
| Bulletin | Subject | Date |
|---|
Applicable, no record of compliance
| Bulletin | Subject | Why it matters |
|---|
Engines and propellers
Both engines were remanufactured by RAM to new limits and installed together on 27 January 1998 at 1,490.3 airframe hours. They have identical time since overhaul. RAM's 1,600-hour TBO eligibility comes from Continental M91-08 Note 3 and RAM Service Letter 89-001.
Compression history (differential, /80 psi)
Green is 75 or above, amber is below 65. The master orifice limit has been 43–45 psi each year, so every reading here passed. The 2015 cylinders broke in at 78/80 on all twelve.
Propellers and governors
- Model
- McCauley 3AF32C515 (STC SA4241SW with the RAM engines), 76.5–78.0 in diameter per the RAM flight manual supplement
- Serials
- 971717 (left) · 971718 (right)
- Installed
- New, 27 January 1998. Spinner spacers added 2004. Prop de-ice brush blocks (left) replaced 2016.
- Overhaul
- No record No propeller overhaul appears in any log since 1998. Check whether a separate propeller logbook exists.
- Governors
- McCauley DCFS290D9A/T3. New with the engines in 1998 (s/n 970127 left, 970126 right). The right governor, logged as s/n 9970126, was overhauled by Rocky Mountain Propellers in July 2025. No overhaul is recorded for the left governor.
- Synchrophaser
- RAM 1719-3 (1998)
Airframe, modifications and equipment
RAM Series VI limits (AFMS FM1037, STC SA8604SW)
- Max power
- 335 hp at 2,700 rpm and 41.0 in. Hg, sea level to 10,000 ft. 310 hp at 20,000 ft.
- Ramp weight
- 6,430 lb
- Max takeoff
- 6,390 lb
- Max landing
- 6,075 lb
- Max zero fuel
- 5,630 lb
- Airspeeds
- VMC red radial 72 KIAS · blue line 100 KIAS · green arc 81–200 · white arc 71–142 · VNE 234 KIAS
- Engine gauges
- MP red line 41.0 in. · EGT red line 1,650 °F · CHT red line 460 °F · oil temperature red line 240 °F
- Placard
- Wing tip tanks must be full for takeoff above 5,990 lb
Weight and balance
- Empty weight
- 4,222.14 lb
- Empty moment
- 654,266.44 in-lb
- Empty CG
- 154.96 in aft of datum
- Useful load
- 2,167.86 lb
- Dated
- 18 Nov 2021 (GTX 345 install, Central Texas Avionics)
A new weight and balance and equipment list will be issued after the 2026 avionics, interior and fuel sender work.
Supplemental Type Certificates and major alterations
| STC / approval | Description | Installed |
|---|
Avionics before the 2026 upgrade
- Garmin GNS 480 (originally CNX80) GPS/NAV/COM, software 2.3 (2009)
- Avidyne EX500 MFD with radar and GPS overlay
- Cessna/ARC 400B autopilot: CA-550A/FD computer, S-550A mode selector, C-531A controller, G-550A flight director (overhauled 2013)
- Garmin GTX 345 ADS-B In/Out transponder (Nov 2021); replaced the GTX 330ES
- Apollo SL70 second transponder, disconnected and placarded INOP (2019)
- RDR-series weather radar
- RA-100 radio altimeter
- ARC 43300 encoding altimeter (pilot), United 5934 altimeter (copilot)
- Insight GEM engine monitor; Floscan fuel flow (STC SA5796SW); Davtron clock
Systems and components
- Fuel
- Main tip tanks, auxiliary wing tanks (pumps replaced 2004), forward locker tanks added 2020 (STC SA2504CE). All bladders, gaskets and seals replaced 2026.
- Ice protection
- Wing and tail boots, prop de-ice, heated windshield plate (new 2003). Flight into known icing is prohibited by AD 2014-03-03.
- Cabin
- Pressurized. Outflow valve overhauled 2009. Pressurization ducts renewed 2025.
- Heater
- Janitrol (Kelly) B4050, s/n 976JJ80
- Air conditioning
- Freon R-12 system (Parker/JB Systems STC). Condenser motor overhauled 2013.
- Oxygen
- Heavy-duty cylinder 801365-10, s/n 19196V, overhauled 2021
- Vacuum
- Airborne 442CW pumps, both overhauled (R 2018, L 2019)
- Alternators
- Left: new HET 100 A (2019). Right: overhauled (2011), 500-hour inspection 2022
- Magnetos
- Slick 6320 pressurized, all four given 500-hour inspections in April 2022
- Battery
- Concorde RG-24-20, s/n 41338362 (Nov 2023)
- ELT
- Artex C589511-0117, being replaced by an ELT 1000 in 2026.
- Paint
- RAM 1998: Jet Glo White 570-545 base with Acry Glo blue trim (HR-10596, HT-10499). Red stripes and N-number outline added 2007. Touch-up and ceramic coating planned after the 2026 upgrade.
Record notes and discrepancies
Things found while reading the scans that are worth correcting or confirming. None of them are flight-safety findings by themselves.
What this record is built from
Aircraft records
- Airframe Maintenance Records, Book 3 (1998–2016) and Book 4 (2017–2026)
- Airframe Recurring AD Reports, Books 3 and 4
- Engine 1 (left) Maintenance Records and AD record
- Engine 2 (right) Maintenance Records and AD records (2 parts)
- Cessna 340A Pilot's Operating Handbook, Sections 0–10 and Section 9 supplements
- RAM Series VI Airplane Supplemental Flight Manual FM1037 and FM1043; Floscan fuel flow supplement
- AD 2014-03-03 icing limitation supplement; Garmin GTX 33X/3X5 AFMS
- Avionics Services Inc. Quote 3 (29 Jun 2026) and scope additions (27 Jul 2026)
- 2026 correspondence for windshields, the windshield heat plate (Textron) and de-ice boots