Oil quick drain

[travis]

I had a quick drain installed on the front engine of my 337E and found out (the hard way) that when the gear is retracted there is not enough room for both the nose wheel and the quick drain. The quick drain is opened by the retracted gear and drains about a gallon every 20 min!

Does any one have a quick drain installed on there fron motor that does not conflict with the nose gear?

_travis

[WebMaster]

Quick drain on the front engine is a no no.
For the reasons you have discovered. It protrudes into the wheel well, and the wheel hits it. If it didn't open the drain, it would put a hole in the tire.
Both are bad.
The answer to the rest of the question is no. There is no way to put a quick drain on the front engine of a skymaster without causing problems.

[Mark Hislop]

You can put a quick oil drain on the front engine. There are two choices for you.

Saf-Air makes a quick oil drain that is STC'd for the TSIO-360 engine. It is a low profile unit, and they say it will clear the nose gear. I have not tried this one.

Bogert Aviation has an STC for the 337 to put a quick oil drain on the front engine. The STC uses a Piper part as the quick oil drain, and Bogert makes a probe which you use to drain the sump. It is a very low profile unit, and it clears the nose gear by a minimum of 3/8". I have installed this one on my 73 P337, and it clears my nose gear by 3/4". I had no problem with getting approval. I installed it during my annual, showed the STC to the IA, and he signed off my paper work.

The SafAir unit looks to me to be more ruggedly built, and it is half the price of the Bogert solution. But the Bogert solution has an STC for the airframe, so I chose that one.

It's not cheap. The STC is $15. The probe is about $65. The Piper part, new, is $120. But it sure is nice not to have to clean up the hangar floor any more.

Mark

[rick bell]

SO HAS AYONE INSTALLED THE FSAF-AIR QUICK DRAIN PROBE AND IF SO DOES IT CLEAR THE GEAR. PURCHASED ONE BUT HAVE NOT INSTALLED YET, HOPING NOT DO A RETRACTION.

[Mark Hislop]

Rick:

You have to do a retraction. Each engine sits a little differently. On the Bogert drain, the STC calls for a minimum of 3/8" clearance. I had about 3/4".

I just waited until my annual, when I had to jack up the aircraft and do the retractions anyway.

Mark

[Rickskymaster]

I have a quick drain on the front engine, I do not know the make or model, but I have had no problems in the last 2 years.
I will check the log books net week and report the make.
Rickskmaster