Every now and then when you are looking through a magazine or book, you see something that catches your attention. This was particularly the case with the Cessna Skymaster 337. On another one of my marathon searches through the AVSIM Library, I was drawn to the strange shape of the Skymaster. So it just had to be downloaded and taken for a flight. Was I in for a surprise! This is a lovely twin engine plane, with a great deal of power and agility. Since its initial download, I have found myself flying it more and more. The two people behind this project are: Donn E. Bohde and Michael Verlin. Donn designed the aircraft, and Michael is responsible for the panel and flight dynamics. Donn has various credits to his name, notably the Cessna Caravan series and the Skymaster. Michael is an avid panel designer and has many to his credit. He seems to concentrate on the small single and twin props, with the odd one or two for the small business jets.
Cessna Skymaster 377 History
The Cessna Skymaster has been in the skies of the world for over 30 years now. The first model was the 336 and came onto the open market late 1963. Development has continued through the years, adding retractable undercarriage and a pressurized cabin. You can read a variety of articles and information on the Cessna 337 here. Some of you might be saying "Where have I seen this aircraft before?" It played a prominent role in the film "Bat 21" staring Danny Glover as "Bird-dog," the rebellious pilot who kept a constant vigil over the downed airman. You can read about the 0-2
Bird-dog here.
Installation, Display and Documentation
After downloading the aircraft, I opened it up using the old faithful WinZip.
There are number of files that you are faced with, but
nothing too daunting. I opened the Readme file and read through the
guidelines. The instructions were straight forward and easy to
follow. As with a lot of new aircraft these days, the author has included
sub-zipped files for the gauges and the radio stack. For the main files, the paths
have also been included, making for swift installation. Looking through the
other files included in the main zip file, there are extensive documents
on the history, performance, figures and flight dynamics. For those of us
out there who have a slightly "over average" interest in the world of
aviation, the author has supplied just what we want.
The Panel
On first impression when you load the Cessna Skymaster into Flight Simulator, you are presented with a lovely panel from Michael. Having looked at various photos of real panels, you can see the
time and effort that Michael has put into it to bring us that "Being there" feeling. The panel is a very nice reproduction of the real thing. Michael has made a few changes to his
design, but nothing that is a major change from the original. He has
incorporated the Skymaster 337 dials into the panel making it more realistic. The
Skymaster dials are from designer Jay Crawford. Jay has put a great deal of time
and effort to make them as real as possible. Comparing the dials on the real 337 panel, they are visibly accurate in appearance and equally accurate when operative in the aircraft. One thing that I noticed about the panel Michael created is that the keys for the ignition do turn, but not with the use of the mouse. You have to start the engine by keyboard input. Even though this is not much of a hardship, perhaps this could be rectified in future releases? The panel makes good use of the night time lighting for the dials
and gauges.
The cockpit has been ergonomically designed to make life for the pilot all that more comfortable. The layout is such that it is not all cramped up.
Michael's rendition of the Skymaster panel shows the evolution seen in the actual Skymaster
over the years. The addition of the weather radar to Michael's cockpit also adds a
touch of reality.
The Aircraft
One of the reasons behind this review was to find something different for all you
budding pilots out there. Well, if this isn't different from the
normal then I don't know what is! Having installed the Cessna 337
Skymaster successfully into FS2000, it was time to take her on a shake down flight. The exterior of the aircraft details the unusual shape and engine configuration. The centerline fuselage and the twin tailbooms, has the twin engines mounted fore and aft of the the cockpit area in a
push/pull configuration. This is commonly known as centerline thrust. Forwarding in time (cheating I know) you can see the very prominent strobe lights that adorn this aircraft.
I selected the
Seattle area to do the test and screenshots for the 337. Before
writing this review, I spent many an hour cruising around in the
Skymaster. One small effect that I noticed is that the engines will cutout
a few seconds after the initial load. Keeping the throttles slightly open
seemed to fix this issue. With the engines fired up and running ok, I taxied onto the
runway. Advancing the throttles, I found there to be no sudden
deviation in course and managed to keep her centerline on the runway without too much
effort or pedal input. As she lifted off the ground, I made a straight
out departure and began a shallow turn. Raising the undercarriage, I headed towards my destination,
Ranger Creek. Donn opted to use the default Cessna sound files that come
with FS2000. These give some lovely effects when manipulating the throttles
and prop rpm levers. Reducing the prop rpm and bringing the throttle back, I climbed
to 5500ft. Once established at altitude, I played around with the trim
to measure the effects it had on the aircraft. No drastic input was required to keep the aircraft stable.
With the aircraft having two engines, I proceeded to test the effects of cutting each of the engines in turn and seeing what effects it would have. With a steady
cruising speed of 150kts at 2450 rpm, I cut the rear engine. The speed
dropped and remained steady at 110kts. Small inputs to the trim brought the
aircraft to a stable position. I did the same with the forward engine
and found pretty much the same effect. From the spot place view, I was
pleased to see that the props would windmill independently. With one
engine off, the warning horn sounds. You can eliminate this by un-synchronizing
the throttles and slightly advancing the stopped engines throttle. With both
engines back to their normal flight configuration, I continued the flight.
As I
approached Ranger Creek (not a landing for the faint-hearted) I eased off on
the throttles and started to make my approach. Scanning the dials and gauges,
everything was where it should be, so I started my final descent.
Lowering the flaps at 100kts I made a right hand turn for the approach and
lowered the undercarriage. Having flown many hours in the aircraft prior to writing this review, I noticed that it takes practice to bleed the speed off this flight model. A combination of
nose up attitude and throttle/rpm control brings you to the desired speed. On the final approach I came in low over the hills and made for a nice touchdown just off the
threshold of runway 15. After the test flight for the review, I
tried a few experiments as to whether the Skymaster was able to take off with
just one of the engines running. I chose a long runway for the
test, and eventually after a long run she lifted into the air. Not
having first hand experience or knowledge of this aircraft, I am
unable to comment on whether this would be possible or not.
Summary
Being a "sucker" for
something new and "out of the ordinary" is no doubt the motivation I
had to write this review. It is hard to find something which compares
along the lines of the Skymaster series of aircraft. Having gone through
various evolutions in its lifetime, its an aircraft that is going to be
around for many years to come.
It is clear that both Donn and
Michael have extensive experience in the creation of aircraft and panels
respectively. There are one of two areas that could do with modification or
updating, but in Donn's case, the lack of a top end computer restricts his
abilities.
The Rating
I have given this review a 3½ star rating. Had the aircraft had the remainder
of the surfaces animated, then I would not have hesitated in giving it four, if
not 4½ stars. I know Donn is always striving to better his designs,
and I have no doubt that this will be addressed in a future release of the
same aircraft.
Interview with Donn.E Bohde
Avsim: What is your history when it comes to aviation? Avsim: Do you hold a Private Pilots License? Avsim: How long have you been involved in Flight Simulators? Avsim: How did you get into designing aircraft for FS? Avsim: What other aircraft do you have credit for? Avsim: Do you have anything else in the pipeline for release on the FS Circuit? Avsim: What made you choose the Skymaster to
concentrate you efforts on? Avsim: Thank you very much for your time Donn.
You can download Donn's Cessna Skymaster from AVSIM's Library
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