[Mark Hislop]

I think you are confusing gear extended with gear operation.

When actually operating the gear (raising or lowering), the clam shell doors that house the main gear open up into the slip stream. They are very draggy, and a lot of load is imposed upon them. Therefore, the aircraft is limited to 160 mph when operating the gear, so as not to damage (or remove) the landing gear doors.

Once the gear is raised or lowered, the landing gear doors close back flush with the fuselage. At that point, you can fly the aircraft at any speed, up to Vne, whether the gear are up or down. The extended landing gear can easily withstand the loads imposed.

I have a 73 P 337, so I don't know for a fact that the 74 model is limited to 140 mph with the gear down. I find it hard to believe, since they are the same design. I think the 140 that you read is also probably 140 kts, since I think the last year they used "mph" was in 73. Somebody with a 74 or later 337 can elaborate.

You are also confusing the ceilings of the turbo models with the ceilings of the pressurized models. All pressurized models are turbocharged, but not all turbo models are pressurized. The turbo models can go up as high as 33,000. The P models are limited to 20,000 feet. This is due to limitations in the amount of pressurization supplied. The P models only have a 3.35" pressurization, which yields a 10,000 foot cabin at 20,000 feet. The aircraft will go higher (as a matter of fact, the single engine service ceiling is higher than 20,000 in many circumstances), but you can't do it legally.

I'm in Aurora, Il, not too terribly far from you. If you ever get up this way and want to go for a ride, let me know.

Mark