Cessna Skymaster

The first Skymaster, Model 336 Skymaster, had fixed landing gear and initially flew on February 28, 1961. It went into production in May 1963 The model was larger, and had more powerful engines, retractable landing gear, and a dorsal air scoop for the rear engine. (The "Super" prefix was subsequently dropped from the name.) In 1966, the turbocharged T337 was introduced, and in 1973, the pressurized P337G entered production. Cessna built 2993 Skymasters of all variants, including 513 military O-2 versions. Production in America ended in 1982, but was continued by Reims in France, with the FTB337 STOL and the military FTMA Milirole. ==Design==

The Skymaster handles differently from a conventional twin-engine aircraft, primarily in that if an engine fails, the plane will not yaw toward that engine. Without the issue of differential thrust inherent to conventional (engine-on-wing) twins, engine failure on takeoff will not produce yaw from the runway heading. With no one-engine-out minimum controllable speed (Vmc), in-flight control at any flying speed with an engine inoperative is not as critical as it is with engines on the wing with the associated leverage; however, performance in speed and, particularly, rate of climb are affected. Flying a Skymaster requires a pilot to hold a multiengine rating, although many countries issue a special "centerline thrust rating" for the Skymaster and other similarly configured aircraft. Accidents have occurred when the runway is shorter than the single-engine take-off roll and pilots, unaware of a rear engine shutdown, have attempted take-off on the nose engine alone. Federal Aviation Administration Airworthiness Directive 77-08-05 prohibits single-engine take-offs and requires the installation of a placard marked "Do not initiate single engine takeoff". The Skymaster's unique sound is made by its rear pusher propeller slicing through turbulent air from the front propeller and over the airframe while its front tractor propeller addresses undisturbed air. ==Operational history==

From 1976 until the middle 1990s, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection used O-2 variants of the 337 Skymaster as tactical aircraft during firefighting operations. These were replaced with North American OV-10 Broncos, starting in 1993. During the Rhodesian Bush War, the Reims-Cessna FTB 337G 'Lynx' was the main light attack aircraft used by Rhodesian Security Forces during Fire Force counterinsurgency air assault missions, which began in 1974. The Lynxes were armed with twin Browning .303 machine guns mounted above the wing and 37mm SNEB rockets, locally made Mini "Alpha" Bombs (cluster bombs), Mini "Golf" Bombs ( blast and shrapnel bomb) and Frantan (a napalm variant carried in frangible drop tanks) bombs. Brothers to the Rescue From 1991 until 2001 the Cuban exile group Hermanos al Rescate (Brothers to the Rescue) used Skymasters, among other aircraft, to fly search and rescue missions over the Florida Straits looking for rafters attempting to cross the straits to defect from Cuba, and when they found them, dropped life-saving supplies to them. Rescues were coordinated with the US Coast Guard, which worked closely with the group. They chose Skymasters because their high wing offered better visibility of the waters below, they were reliable and easy to fly for long-duration missions (averaging 7 hours), and they added a margin of safety with twin-engine centerline thrust. In 1996, two of the Brothers to the Rescue Skymasters were shot down by the Cuban Air Force over international waters. Both aircraft were downed by a MiG-29, while a second jet fighter, a MiG-23, orbited nearby. ==Variants==

Cessna has historically used model years similar to U.S. auto manufacturers, with sales of new models typically starting a few months prior to the actual calendar year. ; :Original variant first flown in 1961 and introduced for the 1963 and 1964 model years. The 336 had a six-seat cabin and was powered by two Continental IO-360-A engines. Production aircraft differed from the prototypes in that they had a roomier cabin and a redesigned rear engine cowling to improve engine cooling and reduce cabin noise. Gross weight was . A total of 197 built; 2 prototypes and 195 production aircraft (102 in 1963 and 93 in 1964). ; :The 1965 model year brought major changes to the Skymaster, which led to a new model number, 337, being assigned. The most significant change was the addition of retractable undercarriage similar to that of the Cessna 210 Centurion, which sat four inches lower than the 336 for ease of entry/exit. Other changes included a redesigned nose cowling and new rear engine intake, greater wing angle of incidence, shortened ventral tail fins, increased elevator chord, and an increased gross weight of . The 337 was powered by two Continental IO-360-C or IO-360-D engines. ; :1966 model year with canted engine instruments and rotary-type door latches. ; :One aircraft converted from the 20th production F337E. Conversions/modifications ;Ampaire Electric EEL :Hybrid electric aircraft with the forward piston engine replaced by an electric motor powered by a battery, in a parallel hybrid configuration. The demonstrator first flew on 6 June 2019, before Hawaiian regional carrier Mokulele Airlines experiment connecting Maui airports with the aircraft. ;AVE Mizar :Flying car, created by Advanced Vehicle Engineers, was an attachment of Skymaster wings, tail, and rear engine to a Ford Pinto outfitted with aircraft controls and instruments. ;Conroy Stolifter :An extensive single-turboprop engine STOL cargo plane conversion of the Skymaster. Front engine was replaced with a Garrett AiResearch TPE-331 turboprop; rear engine was removed, and its space filled with an extended cargo pod. ;Groen RevCon 6-X :Test conversion of a Cessna 337 Skymaster airplane. This aircraft conversion tested the theory of using fixed-wing airplanes as the basic airframes for gyroplanes to reduce cost and shorten development time. ;Spectrum SA-550 :Built by Spectrum Aircraft Corporation of Van Nuys, California, it was an extensive single-turboprop engine conversion of a Reims FTB337G constructed in the mid 1980s. They removed the nose engine, lengthened the nose, and replaced the rear engine with a turboprop. ;Summit Sentry O2-337 :Summit Aviation of Middletown, Delaware re-manufactured existing used 337 airframes into the militarized O2-337 which includes four wing-mounted NATO standard pylons capable of carrying 350 lb (159 kg) each for 7.62 mm and 12.7 mm gun pods, rocket launchers, bombs, markers and flares. The aircraft was marketed for the target identification and marking, reconnaissance, helicopter escort and aerial photography roles. Examples were sold to the Haitian Air Force, Honduras, Nicaragua, Senegal and the Thai Navy. The variant was still in production in 1987. ==Military operators==

T337H-SP Former military operators ==Specifications (337D)==