I bought a plane.

[Scudrunner]

So I bought an Aircraft.
Ok 1/3 of a plane to be precise.
A 1974 Cessna 337G Skymaster to be exact.
Non turbo with IO-360 has Horton Stol kit.
Has the main gear door removal modification.

I got 1.5 hour in her so far, lots of fun. However I forgot how to fly VFR.
But it’s 20 min from my house and once I recall how to tune the radios I’ll be good.

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Some have questioned my sanity buying a twin, however flying my family over the rocks or up to sparsely part of the country NWT and Yukon as I intend to. I figure a twin will give me a fighting chance if something goes bang.

160 knots on 18 GPH might seem high but it’s not much more fuel burn that. 182 or 206 and a heck of a lot less capital tied up.

If you do it right the cheque for your funeral should bounce.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

They are great little airplanes.

As to the cost factor.

You can not put a price on the safety of your family.

[Big Pistons Forever]

Congratulations on the second happiest day of an airplane owners life

FWIW I was told by a huff and puff owner that they ended up removing the belly pod because it caused the front engine to run hot.

I have never flown a 337 with a pod so no personal experience on this issue.

As for the number of engines I remember a very senior Canadian 747 driver was asked how he liked the 747. His response

“It will do until Boeing builds a 5 engine airliner”

[Colonel]

Love the cargo pod!

And the Continental IO-360 may not be loved by all, but I think it's a sweetie.

I've been flying behind this particular one for the last 50 years. No typo,
a wonderful half century of taildragger aviation.



Same cylinders that they installed in Mobile so maybe - just maybe - I have a clue.
Still has the factory PAL nuts on it. Zoom in on the photo.

One word: mixture

Same as the GTSIO-520. Four bars hate that engine. I love it.

Engines are like dogs. Never met one that I couldn't make life-long friends with,
if a spent a little time and figured out what they like, and what they don't like.

[Nark]

That’s awesome!

[Big Pistons Forever]

The Continental IO 360 is a fine engine and properly set up is much smoother than a Lycoming IO 360.

The GTSIO 520 is my all time favourite Continental. It makes a wonderful growl on takeoff and is turbine smooth when you pull the props back in cruise, but the lower frequency noise is IMO much nicer than a turbine.

The C421C I used to fly was sold with 1400 hrs since factory reman on both sides and all original cylinders and exhaust parts except for one tailpipe that was replaced after it cracked as welding is not a good idea for this piece. The engine does just fine if operated correctly.

[Colonel]

Welding exhaust is problematic (albeit popular).

There's a reason it cracked in the first place, and exhaust lives a hard, hot life.
The metal thins out and becomes brittle as it ages, and needs stress relieving
with a torch after being welded in a jig, if the repair is to last any length of
time. Not easy to do it right.

Exhaust has to slip on effortlessly with a perfect fit (eg after welding). If it
doesn't it's immediately stressed just from the installation and will soon crack
again, generally at the edge of the new weld bead.

Ghetto trick: after an exhaust is welded, if you can wrestle it on, take an oxy
torch and heat it up to a nice red which softens it, and allows you to re-torque
the nuts and re-align the flanges. After it cools off, you should be able to undo
the nuts and effortlessly slide it off and on. That way, you know it's not stressed
by the installation.

Mike Busch knows about the twin Cessna exhaust. He worked with the FAA on
the AD. I rather like him, but he doesn't think I'm a nice young man, alas.

Welding is one of those 20th century skills that's lost in the mists of time. The
guys with Extras are funny - they are paranoid about greasers, because any kind
of firm landing will crack the lower longerons at the spring gear mount, and there
is exactly one guy in North America that is qualified to weld them.

[Scudrunner]

Interesting about the cargo pod. One thing I want to
do is replace the engine gauges with a engine monitor / digital display with something like this.

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With like that I can pitch remove a number of instruments, suggestions?

However for the most part I’m going to fly the thing as is until it breaks then upgrade. Don’t want my plane in pieces for no good reason. I can monitor the temps “old school” did it for many years with much less up north and made it to TBO and beyond every time.

The cargo pod only gives a 1-3mph penalty and have read a report of a guy who’s gear wouldn’t extend shut down both. Belly landed it on the pod, they jacked up the plane pulled the gear out and taxied to the hangar no engine damage, removed the pod and continued.

Now here’s one for you electronic gurus. I have noticed the front engine ALT NOT CHARGING light will kind of pulse on and off.

The rear is fine, but when I shut off the rear alternator the front works fine.

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I also find it strange that the good people down in Wichita didn’t see fit to put a voltage gauge on the plane. All I got is those lights.

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[Colonel]

I put the EI CGR 30P in my airplanes. They are incredible - 3 samples per second
of 20 transducers and thermocouples - and I look at the data after every flight.

I see anything funny, I either replace the probe or fix the engine, until the data
is perfect. My engines have never run smoother or made better power.

Here is a tiny example of only two data sources. Note the inverse relationship
between oil pressure and temperature - it's 100F on the ground, btw.



Note the dive at 11:55 as the throttle comes back to idle at touchdown, then
the oil temperature steadily climbs during the taxi back to the hangar because
of the reduced airflow through the cowling (compared to in flight).

I have learned so much about my engines from these monitors ... often it
can be hard to interpret the data. Mike Busch has a staff of people working
for him, and that's all they do. If nothing else, look at the EGT. You can often
learn an awful lot about a cylinder experiencing distress from that.

You are correct - you can toss all your old engine steam gauges. I have a
shelf full of old ones, that would cost a fortune to replace.

[Colonel]

the front engine ALT NOT CHARGING light will kind of pulse on and off.

The rear is fine, but when I shut off the rear alternator the front works fine.

Ever seen a tailwheel shimmy?