Am I the only one?
 

I have been hankerin' to buy a 336 because of the lower maintenance costs for a fixed gear....am I nuts? Are there any 336 owners/flyers on here? What will I sacrifice for buying the 336? Next issue....I live in Farmington NM. Any one know of people with Skymasters in the area?

I saw something...
 

I saw a discussion on this topic somewhere (maybe on this site?) Anyway, as I recall, the consensus was that you were better off to buy a 337, weld the gear down, and remove the dead-weight associated with the gear system. I don't recall all of the reasoning. I believe part of it was better engine cooling, but I',m not sure. FYI, I believe there is a 337 with welded gear for sale on the "skymaster center" web site.

My wife and I are from Farmington. Had an engine out in a Skymaster in Farmington too....

I like the 336 idea, but in reality, I don't think you save too much over a maintained 337.

336
The biggest problem, area of concern, for a 336 is the rear engine. The engine cooling relies mostly on the fan that is on the prop shaft/crankshaft. That led to the early reports that all skymasters are noisy and the rear engine runs hot. Properly maintained, the fan will work just fine, however, it is a source of balance (vibration) and noise concerns.
A 337 will cost you more in insurance, due to the retractable gear, and the engine cooling was solved with a bigger scoop, and cowl flap doors.
The 337 has a larger payload than the 336
That being said, you can pick up a 336 for less money than a 337, and insurance will be less.

Here is a thread on 336 vs 337 models:

http://www.337skymaster.com/messages...=&threadid=311

Kevin

But wait
 

When I was a newbie, it seems like oh so many weeks ago, and I was looking to buy a 337 or 336, the insurers told me the difference in insurance cost would not be that much, a few hundred dollars tops.

HOWEVER, that was before 9/11, so the insurance companies may have a different view of it now. As history now shows, I decided on a 337 and have been happy with my choice. Not without some gear problems over the years, however, it's still nice to have the retractable gear for speed, and heavens forbid, if there were ever a situation of a forced landing where you would not want extended geer, e.g., water, rough terrain, etc.

FWIW

Keven
________
Easy vape perfect temp

I think Francisco owns a 336. Maybe he'll jump in here.

Thank you!!
 

Please don't stop! I appreciate all the comments and will continue to look forward to them.

Richard, tell me more. How long out of Farmington and other nosey questions....or not.

I don't know how far it is, but you might consider coming to PWA in April
If Kevin is successful with his mailing, there will be a least a couple 336's there.

I would like to Larry. As I posted on another thread last night I mistakenly thought it was going to be in June or July....duh! Almost missed it. If I can get my checkride by then it would be about 5-6 hours in my non-Skymaster....darn it! Otherwise just a fairly long day's drive. It is in my long range plan to be there but the wife.....

oh, bring her along. she'll have fun
my wife, unfortunately, has a conference on the same dates, so she won't be there.

Well, that IS the only way I would go. She knows a Skymaster is what I want, and she likes the Cherokee OK, but I want to go just to at least see a few of them and see them fly. Some time before I buy one I have to spend some time in one to see how it handles as I was very pleased with the change in handling characteristics from the 172 I was training in to my Cherokee, and I want to find out just how noisy it really is (but with a good headset how bad can it be...right??).....but there is time for all that while I build some hours.

There are a few of us who went from single engine low time to skymaster, in one fell swoop. lots of good stories. We look forward to seeing you folks.

My wife grew up there. We moved to the coast of Oregon in 97. I've only lived there a couple of years. Lost my front engine over Shiprock. Pretty uneventful. Made it to the airport on the rear engine. Made me piss my pants though when you see all the emergency equiptment coming up the hill. Emediately thought "they think I'm going to die".

I've also owned a Lance (Retract Six). It was roomy, I'll give it that, but I never enjoyed the flight. That one extra engine is really nice to have. Performance is ok. I wouldn't say it was great for the fuel burn, but livable. If you are in the Farmington area and fly ALOT with full fuel full seats? I'd look into a turbo model. I had all six seats filled, full fuel on a hot day..... It made it off the runway just fine, but didn't climb too well. I think Farmington is at 6K?

Wouldn't fly anthing but a Skymaster or turbine something. Just my two cents.

5500 but density climbs FAST! Your example was apparently with a turbo...WOW! If it was hot density was easily 8500+. I would have thought the turbo would have had more affect than that, but I DO know SO little. Thanks for your posts! ALL of you!