Single Engine Climb
I have a 337H model with main gear doors removed. Three years ago while flying with my flight instructor. He pulled my front engine to idle on take off at 300 feet AGL. I had just raised gear, still had 1/3 flaps down. I quickly dropped the nose to maintain 90 kts. It was a 80 degree day & the airport was 600 feet above sea level. I had 100 gal of fuel on board. My son-inlaw in the back seat who weighs 165 pounds, I weigh 170 pounds & my flight instructor weighs 265 pounds. I made a slow turn to the left to go down wind and could not gain a inch of altitude until I was mid field. Than it started to climb slowly. I managed to gain 90 feet before turning base. I know the front engine was creating drag at idle. If it was a real engine out I would have feathered the prop on dead engine. I was impressed with performance under the conditions of high tempature and high payload. Try that in a single engine aircraft.
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