I've had a few requests to write up something about the P337. I've had mine a bit over a year now and have put 120 hours on it so I have a decent feel for it, I think. It is also my 12th airplane so I have a reasonable ownership experience of different types of airplanes over the years. I've been flying 22 years (although after getting my certificate in 2004 I really didn't fly much until 2002) and have 1,800 hours, multi-ATP, commercial single engine, CFI, CFII & MEI just so you know my aviation background. I live in Tucson and currently fly mostly to Los Angeles, Las Vegas and the Baja of Mexico.
I buy airplanes to suit my needs at the time and my needs have regularly changed over the years. I'm not as bad as Todd or Tom but I have bought and sold more than my share of airplanes
I have the right airplane for my needs right now. Many need or want greater speed, greater maximum altitude, greater useful load, greater pressurization differential, etc. I understand. My needs are different than many others' needs and that's OK. I fly solo 95% of the time and don't have the need to fly above 20,000 ft. I don't need a six place airplane with 2,000 lb of useful load that does over 200 kts on close to 40 GPH.
My previous airplanes were, in order:
Cherokee 140 (with 180 HP & C/S prop)
"C" model Mooney
Cessna 152 (bought in partnership with my CFI primarily so he could leave his flight school and work on his own)
Cirrus SR-22
Mooney Bravo (known ice)
Seneca III
"F" model Mooney (with turbo)
Colemill Baron (hence my joining this site)
Cessna 182
Twin Comanche
Lancair 320 (with IO-360)
P337
I posted the following specs in another thread earlier today and was once again asked to post more about the airplane so here it is.
187 KTAS at 17,500 ft.
23 GPH in cruise (yes, that's both engines and slightly LOP)
7,500 ft cabin at 17,500 ft (a frequently used altitude for my flights)
8+ NM/gal
Comfortable for four people, A/C works well too
$3,224.80 annual (last year, which was my first annual on this airplane)
$1,869 insurance premium with no formal school and only an annual IPC requirement
Examples are currently available for a purchase price between $60,000 - $90,000
The drawback: those that don't understand them like to make fun of them. And there are a bunch of people that don't understand them
The airplane. A P337.
I've uploaded some files for your perusal. The airplane is just a couple of knots slower than book, on the fuel burn that the book says. My guess for the speed difference is that I have more scoops than the factory airplane did. I have scoops on the front and rear for the Riley intercoolers that are not original and I have a scoop for the air conditioning that did not come from the factory. I also have a Horton STOL kit that may or may not affect cruise speed.
Interestingly, with book cruise settings (30" MP, 2400 RPM and 11.5 GPH per engine) I'm slightly LOP per the JPI engine monitor where the book says I should be at 65% power ROP. Maybe the intercoolers do that ?
My airplane is on the cover of the February 2016 Cessna Pilot's Association magazine and I have an article about the airplane in it:
http://www.klrdmd.com/0216CPA.pdfThe September 2015 Aviation Consumer article about 337s; they published an E-Mail from me about my P337:
http://www.klrdmd.com/AC337.pdfThe pressurization chart from the Owner's Manual. Mine makes full pressurization differential.
http://www.klrdmd.com/Pressurization.pdfPerformance tables at 10,000 ft:
http://www.klrdmd.com/10000.pdfAnd 20,000 ft. You can interpolate for altitudes between them.
http://www.klrdmd.com/20000.pdfI've provided the basics and am happy to entertain any questions . . .