Yes, I remember the lingo at Western Skyways in Troutdale back in the day. There was always a quip or two directed to the Mixmaster! The good old days. They usually had one as a demo because it had decent utility. I rode in it a few times.

Thanks to everyone for the input, so I am trying to summarize what I am reading.

P337 is a Great airplane:
Lowest entry price into the pressurized twin market. Good speed and economy, Cruise along at 20K in a quite, spacious cabin in A/C comfort while sipping less than 20 gal/hr with twin safety. Great 4 place airplane with baggage. No worries about night or mountain flying. Benign single engine performance while maintaining 12k on one engine. Fits into normal hanger, any A/P can work on it. Low insurance rates. Cessna quality. Wife will love you.

P337 is Terrible airplane
Highest operating cost of any twin including turbine. 1K per hour in maintenance cost. Slow and burns lots of fuel for such small engines, Loud, cramped, hot cabin with no useful load and no baggage room. Won't maintain altitude on one engine, or maybe barely depending on which engine. Needs special A/P. Rare no parts, Cessna crap. Wife will divorce you.

Robert Marshall you have not chimed in yet.

Decisions can be hard

Charles

Charles
Feel free to PM me and I’ll give you my thoughts on the skymaster.
I really like my P337 and that’s after owning a Cessna 421 for 4 years and a TBM A model for 15 years. All depends on your mission and stage in life.

Greg

Another dark horse if you're more into the bush flying side, is the rare Cessna 336 fixed gear. Super-simle plane that you can put Alaska bush wheels on and a STOL kit. Kinda cool. Not fast, but can land pretty much anywhere.

That changes everything

BN2 Islander is a much better fixed gear,STOL, twin

And a ton more money.

There are 337's in Alaska with bush-tires on them - with gear retract disabled! These are planes the guys likely paid virtually nothing for and get great utility from.

And the difference is you had realistic expectations as to what it costs to fly pressurized piston twins.

You also probably did not go bargain hunting.

If you’ve never owned one and can’t resist the temptation, my first bullet point advice is to find a mechanic that is as passionate about them as you are. I never had a problem with Ford/New Holland brand until the mechanic moved away. I slowly transitioned to Kubota because I found a mechanic who loves them.

14 year old me thought the 337 was the best character in this movie. Sorry it has little to do with the OP’s initial question.

14 year old me thought the 337 was the best character in this movie. Sorry it has little to do with the OP’s initial question.

Yes, a few times. Then you are taking off the rear prop, it gets eaten alive. The guy i flew freight for in south africa had a couple 337's in the fleet on dirt&sand and they were a disaster. The piper aztec is the right tool for that job.

Looks like in the pic of the 336 they have some sort of mud/gravel guards behind the MLG to probably reduce kick up of stuff into the prop.

Guys in my father's generation extolled the virtues of this airframe as a very stable rocket-launching platform that could take a lot of punishment and make it back home. I'm sure those testaments are true.[/quote]
14 year old me thought the 337 was the best character in this movie. Sorry it has little to do with the OP’s initial question.


BAT 21 is a great little gem of a movie. Highly recommended.[/quote]

I was at Korat when the Bat 21 event occurred. I didn't have anything to do with the EB-66's and only knew what I heard through the grapevine. One time, we had two airplanes crash on takeoff on the same day. An EB-66 bellied in after losing an eninge, with no serious injuries, but the F-105G crew was not so fortunate with one killed. They grounded the Wing while they checked things like fuel but found no common cause.

About the same, especially for those 40+ years old now.