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My experience isn't as bad as Kevin's and more akin to HHarney's. I made a trip clear across the continent from Miami, FL to Boise, ID, across the Rockies in my prior 337D. At nearly full load I had no difficulty cruising at 11,500 ft and I made some short jogs up to 13,000 ft to go over mountains. It wasn't a rocket getting up there, but climb rate was decent. For instance, my 337G POH says that at 4630 lbs (max load, yours might be 4400 lbs) rate of climb for a new bird is in the range of 545 to 885 ft/min (depending on climb airspeed) at 10,000 ft, and 265 to 570 ft/min at 15,000 ft, all assuming a standard day.
Regarding cruise speed, I found the speeds acceptable. It's true that you're going to go slower but the economy is going to be superb, so it's a tradeoff. Again from the POH, picking a combo of 2400 rpm and 20 inHg at 7500 ft gives you a cruise of 172 mph and a range of 1155 miles. At 15,000 ft a combo of 2400/14 cruises at 138 mph with a range of 1310 miles. So it's clearly more efficient to fly at the higher altitudes, albeit slower.
Obviously, on a short trip it isn't worth it to climb high (unless weather requires it). But on a long trip (4-6 hrs) I have found that the longer time spent in the climb (especially once you get past 8,000 ft or so, when the climb gets sluggish) and the slower cruise are more than offset by the fuel savings and longer range.
Ernie Martin
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