Cessna Skymastr 337

[Tom_G_2010]

Among the flight models I'm considering for my generic cessna pit is the Cessna Skymaster 337. I'm looking for a good FSX version, but it seems there's not much out there. At least not that I've found so far.

Has any one had any experience with aircraft from "Flight SIm Developers?

http://www.fsd-international.com/Hangar/C337/index.htm

Or, do you know of other Skymaster's out there?

[Ronson2k9]

Carenado is coming out with one shortly and if his previous work is any indication it should be state of the art.. Check Carenado's Site (http://www.carenado.com/CarSite/Portal/index.php) under Upcoming Projects. As it looks like the exterior model is finished. Can't give a date but I'm looking forward to it too. My Cessna 185 pit can easily be turned into a 337 pit by adding a CH throttle (modified for the twin engined 337)

If you want to get the exact moment I would suggest you join him on Facebook he has a I guess you could call it a blog on Facebook.

[Tom_G_2010]

Thanks! I have a few Carenado aircraft already and really like them. Didn't realize they had a facebook page, I'll have to check that out. I'm toying with a pit option that would allow me to easily swap out the single engine slide/vernier style controls with a lever style twin when desired. I love flying my low slow 172 and 182, but have found I like the performance of the baron as well so I am looking at the skymaster as a cessna fit to my 172 fuselage. It's a stretch, I know, but it's all in the land of make believe so why not.

[Ronson2k9]

It's just a good happenstance that the 185 and 337 share quite a few of the same things. I hadn't thought of doing a 'Dual' Cessna pit before as there wasn't 'unless you go back to FS2004' and the FSD one you mentioned. But Carenado makes great stuff. So I'm pretty excited. Seems he's making planes that I have a thing for one after the other. He's kind of the Mr. Rork on my Fantasy Island :)

I went looking for a PDF version of the POH. So far nothing but I'm pretty good at finding such things. Parts Catalog is always a golden egg of info too.

Differences include not only the throttle group but also the engine gauges would be doubled for a for a Twin. Depending on the version of the Skymaster there are other differences too. I don't think he will be releasing a military version (O2) as that's not his style. If you're doing a projected cockpit gauge group then it's just a question of setting up a the appropriate 2D panel to reflect that. Engine gauges don't require adjustment (from the cockpit anyway) so they are only displays. Other nav and system gauges would be common to both so not a problem.

The 'tunnel' as it's called in the Skywagon is the only other difference. From the look of the Skymasters interior there is a pedestal (Central Console) where all the trims and throttle group are located. I could perhaps make one and swap it out with the tunnel as they could be interchangeable to a degree. The Skymaster also has retracts. As I'm also building an amphibious aircraft cockpit they both share that to a degree.

Since you've started the thread anything I find on the 337 including the impending release by Carenado I'll post in here.

Cheers
Ron

[Tom_G_2010]

Thanks! I'll do the same. I started out with only the 172 in mind and purchased a 172N fuselage. Since then I've started to think about how much utility I could get out of it with a few mods as long as I wasn't a stickler for precise replication. Not that I want to emulate a 737 in my 172 fuselage, but to have a little variety within the reasonable bounderes created by the the 172 shell will expand its usefulness and value for me. So a 172, 182, the 337, etc. seem within reach.

I've been wrestling with the Instrument panel design since long before the 337 idea came along. I almost went Glass Cockpit but have since steered away from that. As you said the engine instruments are the big variable. I'm having trouble finding the 10" LCD's that will fit in the existing panel, and would almost rather go with USB hardware based gauges. But, maybe a hybrid is in order: Hardware for the common gauges in front of the pilot and LCD for the engine gauges in front of the co-pilot. :???:

[Ronson2k9]

That sounds like a plan. I've been thinking of doing something similar to that as well. In as much as I can't add an LCD screen below the yoke column. I've been thinking of how many instruments I could actually build to do the job of the LCD. As the engine gauges are just a display they seem the easiest to make as the only input is that from FSX itself. The LCD radio stack seems like a logical way of making the most of both worlds. The seven segment display could be rather complex to build and expensive to buy. The display can be generated without looking 'LCDish' and work quite well with a well made input matrix/template over top.

Engine gauges can become something else for the 'non twin' aircraft we're flying.

There are quite a few paper versions of the parts catalog and POH but non I can find in download so far. The other being quite plentiful and not to pricey could make it an ebay adventure. I may wait to see what Carenado's version includes then I can point myself to the appropriate models. As there are quite a few.

337 A through H
T337 (Turbo)
Super Skymaster. (Pressurized)

I'm not one to buy specific parts to match as a Cessna is a Cessna pretty much. However you do need to have somethings that are unique to make the flight experience well unique to each aircraft.

The 337 was the first model airplane I had as a kid so that is the connection I have to it. I also when I was 18 went to a nearby airport and took a series of pictures about a roll or so (remember film hehe) of a Skymaster that was parked on the ramp. So I've had a thing for the twin boomed twin engined bird for some time.

I know I could take a CH Throttle (http://www.chproducts.com/retail/t_tq_quad.html) and modify it for the Twin without to much of a change. I would probably build a box that would cover the push pull unit and appropriate handles (out of wood then painted). There are also a ton of articles out there for building such a twin-engined throttle quad (http://www.baron58.com/Throttle_Quandrant.htm) and so it wouldn't be to hard to make one from scratch.

Just looking at airliners.net there are some really cool paint schemes out there too so it's getting me pretty jazzed about it. Just have to wait grrrr for Carenado :) and see what versions he brings to the party. I'm sure it will come with a POH of it's own and other data to enhance the model.

By the way as you mentioned the Baron 58 there is a pretty cool builders site that I linked to above that has a great deal of info you may find quite interesting.

Baron 58 Cockpit Simulator (http://www.baron58.com/)

Cheers
Ron

[Ronson2k9]

Carenado just added 10 new images for the Skymaster on his Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carenado/129839447092878?sk=wall). Looks like it's going to be HD (High Def Textures and greater detail inside and out). My mouth is already watering...

[Hennie]

Ron,

I am one(?!) day away from finishing a generic GA twin TQ. I will post some pics over the weekend. It is running on 2 hacked joystick boards, and so far tests have been satisfactory. I will share the plans with everybody who needs it. I have spent ± 500-00 ZA Rand(± US $70) on it. You can cut and modify it to your heart's content. I personally think there could be a lot of improvements to be made

A lot of my inspiration came from www.baron58.com. I "plagiarised" from the pics on the site to complete and design my TQ.

[Tom_G_2010]

Ron,

I am one(?!) day away from finishing a generic GA twin TQ. I will post some pics over the weekend. It is running on 2 hacked joystick boards, and so far tests have been satisfactory. I will share the plans with everybody who needs it. I have spent ± 500-00 ZA Rand(± US $70) on it. You can cut and modify it to your heart's content. I personally think there could be a lot of improvements to be made

A lot of my inspiration came from www.baron58.com. I "plagiarised" from the pics on the site to complete and design my TQ.

Thanks! Looking forward to pics and details!

[Ronson2k9]

Me too.. I was thinking the same thing 'using joysticks to make the TQ'

[Tom_G_2010]

Me too.. I was thinking the same thing 'using joysticks to make the TQ'

I got the electronics for the first set of rudder pedals I built by gutting a $35 Logitech joystick. It works reasonable well and if you don't believe you'll need any more inputs then it provides it's a good cost savings. I needed three axis for the rudder pedals so I had a 4th axis, a top hat switch, and 12 buttons to use for other stuff. Those rudder pedals are part of my desktop sim and I used the 4th axis for one of my trims, the top hat switch for my fuel selector, and the buttons for my comm panel audio selector, my DME Nav1/2 select, the AP master, the Nav/GPS selector, and the parking brake.

If, however, you think you may need more than the number of axis or buttons from the typical joystick you may find a USB board like the one that Leo Bodnar makes Ultra Precision Joystick Controller BU0836A (http://www.leobodnar.com/products/BU0836A/) is actually less expensive on a per input basis. IT provides 8 axis, 32 buttons, and a top hat. I'll actually be using 2 to three of them for my Cessna pit.

[Ronson2k9]

Oh I know. Just from a simplicity standpoint as my 'primary' is a Cessna A185F so I need to be able to connect and disconnect pretty easily.

I plan on using one for the tunnel (Rudder & Stab trim, Wing & Cowl Flaps - 4 axis, Fuel Selector, Emergency Gear Pump - 2 axis, Fuel Cutoff valve, Water Rudder retract). Then one for the Rudders themselves. Only the pilot side has tow brakes so 1 axis for the brakes and one for the rudder then another pair for the yoke + assorted buttons (AP Disengage and PTT). They will mostly be pots and or encoders connected to Leo's cards. Leo's card is not that great with encoders so I may need to make an adjustment to that but not impossible. They are somewhat designed to work with a pot so an encoder is a bit of bonus.

Don't know if there is a emergency gear pump on the 337 but probably.

Cheers
Ron

[Hennie]

Here it is. It is running on 2 Genius F23 boards. The pics do show the platform at the bottom where the boards will be fixed. The whole construction is 180 mm high, 195 mm long and 140 mm depth. All 8 pots are used, 2 each for throttle, pitch and prop, and 1 each for rudder and elevator trim. Sorry about the quality, cellphone pics.

[Ronson2k9]

Very nice work on the throttle group. Looks like it would fit right in the 337..

BTW.. The Carenado 337 is nearing completion. Don't have a date yet but perhaps before school returns in few weeks. It's in finalizing currently.

Cheers
Ron

[Ronson2k9]

Carenado's Cessna 337 Skymaster is currently in Beta testing. Some real 337 pilots are taking care of that. So it shouldn't be long now. I would say early September perhaps before labor day. From the night time screens looks amazing. I love night flying as well. Can't do much of that in float ops in the 185. Wheels down it's not bad (on land of course). Floats are too dangerous at night.

I'll post again when the 337 becomes available. Should be incredible though. In the meantime I'm going to try to dig up some more info on the Skymaster.

Cheers
Ron

[Tom_G_2010]

Carenado's Cessna 337 Skymaster is currently in Beta testing. Some real 337 pilots are taking care of that. So it shouldn't be long now. I would say early September perhaps before labor day. From the night time screens looks amazing. I love night flying as well. Can't do much of that in float ops in the 185. Wheels down it's not bad (on land of course). Floats are too dangerous at night.

I'll post again when the 337 becomes available. Should be incredible though. In the meantime I'm going to try to dig up some more info on the Skymaster.

Cheers
Ron

The Wait is killing me . . .

Thanks for the update!!!

I've been very impressed with the other Carenado aircraft. If this one rises to the level of the others, my pit will for sure have modular engine gauges and controls for a twin or single.

That adds another level of complexity to the build, but I think it will be well worth the effort.

[Ronson2k9]

Yep me too. It's a real looker but it's in HD so don't know if there will be a frame hit with it or not. Most likely not but I've never had a HD aircraft on my system before so.. The wait continues..

In the mean time. I have found a few things online. One is this nice drawing of the 337 for those wanting to build a pit for it. Pay attention to both the scale and the cross-sections this will give the cockpit size and shape.
http://i416.photobucket.com/albums/pp244/Ronson2k3/Cessna%20337%20Skymaster/C337.jpg

I also have the sales brochure for 1976 Skymaster. I'll put that here when I get it converted to a PDF. It has a ghosted view of the Skymaster and a pretty good 2d panel photo. It's a bit different from other Cessna's as it's got all the switches right around the yoke. Seems a bit of bother to have them there. The POH and Parts Catalog are available off of Ebay pretty reasonably. For some reason thought the POH's from the 70's (mid to late 70's) are way expensive. Don't know why that is. Should be the best time for Cessna (more planes = more manuals = Less rare = cheaper). There like $200US+ a bit out of wack to me as the manual has to follow the plane so if it's being sold there is no plane to go with it.

Still trying to work out a plan to add the twin engine controls to my single engine Cessna. Not quite there yet. I may build a new center console that would encompass the throttle and elevator trim and fuel selection and the like. That would mean the 'Tunnel' as it's called for the 185 would need to be removable. Rudders seem to be the same though.

Cheers
Ron

[Tom_G_2010]

IT HAS ARRIVED!!!

Carenado C337H Skymaster (http://www.carenado.com/CarSite/Portal/index.php?accion=product&correl=62)

Time to go check with the chief accountant to see if I can download it tonight.

http://www.carenado.com/CarSite/Portal/image/productos/CE1900X/banner/1.jpg

Found this YouTube showing it posted on their facebook page:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuEB8VvX4hk&feature=share

[Ronson2k9]

Not fare you beat me to it.. LOL... :):):):):

[Tom_G_2010]

Loaded it late last night and got a couple hours in this morning. Looks great!!! Strange tendency to yaw to the right though. Didn't expect that with the engines in line and counter rotating. I only have a single throttle control on my desktop pit and I don't believe the 337 has any type of auto sync. I wonder if I need to tweak the engines individually??? Not sure

[Ronson2k9]

As you throttle up check the RPM on both engines to see if they match more or less. Could be you are throttling up on one of the 2. It is HD so perhaps he has built it that way. I've yet to get mine btw.. Been pretty busy.. LOL

Cheers
Ron

[SOUZA]

hello everyone, i had bought 337D SKYMASTER fuselage,and i very happy for these project, there are a lot of parts missing, like main door, engine nacelle and landing gears leg, i going to do some home made parts, have some of yours made these parts, there is a draw?