I must admit that I am a high wing guy. I love high wing airplanes, always have. So if you look at my preferences you will find Cubs, Taylorcrafts, Dorniers and of course Cessnas.
I own a Cessna 172, one that I am trying to sell to a buyer interested in a 40 year old manual-flap equipped 172, but only because I live too far away now to fly it regularly and the airstrip next to my house is short enough to need a Maule or a Cub. Making a 172 into a STOL airplane is akin to making silk purses out of sow’s ears; tough at best. But if Cessna had ever made a STOL airplane like the Helio-courier, you can bet that I would have dropped money down right now on one. I just love Cessna airplanes.
I like them so much that I have made it a personal goal to fly every Cessna currently made, and a few no longer in production. The Cessna singles are pretty easy as everyone has one or knows someone with one. Of the recent Cessna singles, only one, the 207, has eluded my hands. I have flown every one from the 150 right up into the 208. Some of you will mention the earlier 140s and 195s but I will defend myself and qualify that I want to fly airplanes built from 1960 on.
Twins are harder to come by.
I have flown the 421, the 414 and the Conquest I. The Conquest is my favorite of the lot. The 310 has not materialized nor have machines like the Crusader and the jets might never happen. In addition, for the longest time there remained a twin that I drooled over but just never seemed to be available. That twin, the 337 or Skymaster has long held my fascination as a machine that would lend itself to a lot of fun and interesting flying. I even considered buying one myself but was rapidly discouraged from that because of the fact that there is no possibility of operating one of them out of my airstrip.
I thought that I would never get the chance to fly the thing and then a month ago, a friend called me and asked me to go for a ride.
My friend looked long and hard to find the right Skymaster. After some serious traveling and searching he finally found the 337 that worked for him and plunked down the money. Shortly thereafter, although I don’t think it was ominous of anything in particular, he developed a landing gear failure in the same airplane and nearly belly-landed the beauty back at home base. Aside from that speed bump in the process of acquisition, the airplane has been a great addition to his life. He is a business owner and uses it to go all over the Eastern USA. He was quick to let me know that none other than Anchorman Hugh Downs had once flown his Skymaster. He got the deal that he was looking for when he bout his 337.
After doing a flight physical for my friend on a perfectly clear Ohio day I met him at the airport where he was completing his preflight. The 337 is nothing if it is not unusual. Twin booms and a connecting elevator along with the vortex generators and aft mounted engine suggest to the casual observer that perhaps the engineers were still suffering from a bit of the hangover induced from a night of heavy drinking. For the pilot however, all of this stuff really makes a great deal of sense. The twin booms add considerable structural strength to the overall airframe while creating a place to put the engine and creating a barrier to people who might be tempted to walk behind the airplane while it is running. All of the scoops and VGs are there to smooth airflow and increase cooling to that rear fan. It is not an uncommon practice for 337 owners to taxi on the front engine and start the rear just prior to departure in order to keep the temps down and minimize overheating of the rear engine.
In our case we started both as per the checklist and kept the power settings to something reasonable while the oil loosened up and found its way to the moving parts.
After completing the walk around my friend opened the door, allowed my son to climb in the back and then to my surprise he offered me the left seat. I do a lot of flying with friends; far more in fact than I do of my own airplane. I do a lot of the flying when I fly with friends but my view is most often from the right. I am very used to adjusting to the parallax incurred by scanning across the panel. To be allowed the left seat in someone else’s airplane is nothing less than a privilege and truly an honor. I offered the proper “Are you sure?” and I certainly didn’t wait to ask again.
There is a very cool thing about the left seat. It is, I assure you even cooler the bigger the airplane you are in. For the aviator it is a not just a physical position, it is a persona and a role that we all aspire too and we are all intimately familiar with from over a century of manned flight. The left seat is everything. If you are not sitting there you are really a passenger because it is from that seat that decisions are made and consequences felt most closely.
I looked over the panel and noticed the conspicuous lack of a place for an ignition key. Bigger airplanes have keys for the door, it is assumed that if you have any business starting the thing you will know how to do it and will not want to be bothered by twisting keys like a common automobile driver (note to self, next airplane, just install a start switch.). It is a noticeable difference and a reminder that I am once again in a “systems airplane” and ought to treat it as such.
The engines came to life without difficulty and a felt the dual throttles in my hand as I adjusted the manifold pressure and made sure that the props were full forward. The power of the airplane is such that taxing even at a low idle requires the use of occasional brakes to keep the speed to something approximating a brisk walk. For my part there was no hurry because at the end of the ride I would once again find myself in the world of the single fan for a long time and I really relish the feeling of multiple throttles in my palm.
The taxi, run-up and departure checklists were completed and after the obligatory blessing from the tower I did what I have always known to do but have never actually done in a 337; I advanced the right for ‘rear’ throttle and waited for the roar to increase confirming that my rear fan was healthy, at halfway through my advance I began to push the left for ‘forward’ throttle forward and released the brakes. Throughout the entire process my friend remained silent and allowed me my space, something that I am most grateful for because the flight became not so much a trip but a session of therapy. At the numbers a crosscheck confirmed everything in the green and I awaited 65knots to rotate.
The Skymaster unstuck quickly and once I saw the end of the runway disappear beneath the nose and the VSI in the positive I called out “Positive rate, gear up” and flicked the gear lever. The 337 accelerated a noticeable 5 knots and the flaps were retracted in the climb as we passed 500 feet AGL.
By this time I was fully in my element and I began the right turn out to a heading that would take us up to Cambridge, OH. Leveling off at 3000 feet I was amazed at how much the Skymaster flies like all big Cessna’s, like a 182. The glass arcs back just like the 208 and the 177 and you can easily look back and over the wing to clear turns. It is this feature of the Cessna family that makes me certain that should I ever see the $1.5 million dollars, I would own a Caravan. It is the finest airplane in the world for a single pilot who needs to get places with utility.
We did some local area orientation and I pointed out to my friend a few of the local private grass strips so that in the event that he ever needed to get down he would know he had places to go before he got to PKB. Once this was done we headed for Cambridge and enjoyed the morning.
I read a lot of comments in various aviation forums from people who wonder how to bring big airplanes down. I do not brag when I say this, but for whatever reason and at the hands of pilots far more advanced and experienced than I, I have never had this concern. It has been for as long as I can remember and intuitive thing the nature of landing an airplane. I have always seen it terms of energy and by the grace of God I was given the ability to see 10 minutes ahead and know about power reduction and descent planning.
So it was without fanfare that I asked what approach flaps and gear operating speeds were and I was obliged with an answer. We entered about a 2 mile 45 for the left downwind 4 Cambridge and by this time I had 18 inches of manifold pressure coinciding with approach flap speed and down they went. As soon as flaps were set the gear came down and I waited on downwind for the speed to decay and the green lights of gear down to confirm what I was seeing in the wing-mounted mirrors. I turned base and added flaps and finally turned and settled into a 3 mile final.
Final flaps and props forward all the way. Lights on, just as if we had flown over the marker and down the Skymaster came. She needed a little power reduction and some forward trim of all things to stay settled but as the Brits say, “Bob’s your uncle.” She came down and flared beautifully, stall horn blaring as we settled onto the mains. Full aft yoke to fly the nose down and we were there. Man I love that airplane.
After some chatting with the locals and a few softdrinks we repeated the process and flew home. Again I was privileged by a friend who remarked that it was fun to have someone else do all the flying while he sat and watched. For my part I offered to shoot some air-to-air photos for him of his airplane because it was the least that I could do after both flying his airplane and having my offer to help with fuel refused. I am very fortunate to have such generous people in my sphere of influence. No worried there at all.
My son and I drove home, fix firmly in heart and mind. A dose of something bigger that I will likely never do regularly but nevertheless adds a considerable amount of joy to my life as a pilot; flying bigger machines and doing it reasonably well. I consoled myself with the knowledge that while my life seems determined to keep me in the realm of small airplanes and grass fields I nevertheless get just enough of multiple throttles to satisfy myself that in fact, I can do the job and really enjoy myself while doing so.
So that is the 337 and another unique entry into my logbook. Another day in the life of a man enthralled by the wing…
Fly Safe.
FF
