in flight problems ?

[big al 08]

maybe i have tooooo much time on my hands while my bird in is intensive care.
started to reflects on in flight problems i have experienced and wonder if there is any common link to other 337.

ok here we go

vapor locking rear eng - many times
run away trim - 1
landing gear stuck - numerous times
total landing gear failure - once
total electrical failure - 1
bad engine fuel pump - 3times
failure vac. pumps - same time
alt failure, coupler - 1
complete static system failure - 2
total loss of brakes - 1
fuel strainers leaking alot - 2
blow outs, 2main, i nose
broken throttle cable
rear eng rocker arm broken - 1

alot of these incidents were after new engines and new assesories and hoses

[kevin]

Wow. Doesn't sound like much fun.

For whatever it is worth, perhaps I lead a charmed life, but in five years of owning a normally aspirated, and then a P337, I had none of those problems. I don't operate out of the short, less improved strips that you do, so I might not have been as hard on the brakes and tires. But in all that ownership time, all I experienced was a loud THUMP one time when I brought the gear up. I put it back down, landed, we examined everything, then I flew the airplane two hours with the gear down. Later examination found I had low hyd fluid level, but no leak. We filled it up, it was fine for the rest of the time I owned the '65.

I did have voltage regulator problems, and some other electrical problems, out the ying yang. I also had cowl flap motor problems due to a difficult to solve front engine oil leak. But that was really it for me as far as I recall...

Kevin

[Ernie Martin]

You don't say over how many years these things happened or the condition of your aircraft when they did*, so the list is not necessarily surprising. With my previous and current Skymasters over an 8 year period, I have these comments:

1. My list is shorter:
landing gear stuck - numerous times (but see paragraph 2 below)
bad engine fuel pump - 1
bad aux. fuel pump - twice
bad oil temperature sensor - 1
rear eng rocker arm broken - 1 (but see paragraph 2 below)

2. The first and last incidents can be attributed to me -- pilot or operator error. The landing gear in my 73 used to get stuck when I abused the battery and let it run out of water. I now have a strict policy of removing the battery every 3 months, replenishing with distilled water and trickle charging overnight; since then, the problem has gone away. The broken rocker arm occurred soon after I overheated the engine (descended without enriching the mixture).

For an 8-year period, that's not bad.

Ernie

_________________
* Skymasters, because they were cheap to acquire, often ended up in the hands of owners who couldn't afford the necessary maintenance. When they were sold, the new buyers of these aircraft ended up facing frquent breakdowns and large maintenance bills. Obviously, a Skymaster in this group will have a long list of problems.

[big al 08]

i bought mine in good shape and was not a bargin; however flew it from 800.0 hrs til tbo 1400.0. except for vapor locking and rocker arm all have occured after fac new engs and all new hoses and assecories (go figure) so most incidents have been in the last 400.0 hrs. total span 10yrs

[Ernie Martin]

Doesn't surprise me that failures came after . An aircraft which has recently undergone major repairs is far more likely to fail than one where the components may be older but which has been running well for months. It's the reason many things (appliances, etc.) are warranted 90 days, because the thinking is that if it was built right and survives the first 90 days, then it should last to its design lifetime. On new electronic components (transistors, etc.) it's called "infant mortality"; the failure curve has two bumps, one soon after it's put in service, one near the end of life.

BTW, a corollary of this is that some people ask their mechanic (or some other brave soul) to be the first to take the aircraft flying after repairs.

Ernie