337 or 337p

[LostKiwi]

I agonized over the same thing. Once I'd decided I needed a Skymaster, I really did go back and forth over buying a P model, and ended up buying a Normally aspirated 337G.

My reasoning was much the same as yours, I live in the rockies, and for me to go anywhere requires some serious altitude. Having the second stove when flying over tiger country gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Happy to report that the NA Skymaster has no real problems with that mission. Climbs like a missile if you want it to, and it'll hold a 500 ft/min cruise climb all the way up to 12,000 ft. Goes in and out of short strips, big, roomy, comfortable cabin for us "husky" gentlemen, and it has more useful load than you can shake a stick at. Absolutely the right airplane for the job.



It does hurt seeing the P model boys up at 17 or 18k with 250 knt ground speeds though - I want a piece of that! Maybe my next airplane......

Leighton.

[Jerry De Santis]

Something to keep in mind when over the mountains, by book values, the P unit will hold 18,500 feet alt on either engine should you experience an engine out. The NA unit will hold about 5,500 feet on the front engine and 7,500 feet on rear engine. Those values were taken from the 1971 F unit. This is why I chose the P unit years ago.