[Rocket231]

I read of one case where a 337 lost the rear prop. The airplane, if I recall correctly, was a turboprop conversion undergoing flight testing. The rear engine acted up, and the pilot shut it down. The aircraft returned to base safely on the front engine. The pilot didn't know that the rear prop had parted company with the airplane until he got out and looked. It apparently missed the tailbooms completely and there was no damage to the airframe.

I will admit to being a little worried about this as well. I think the booms may be "failsafe" in the sense that a single tail boom could support all normal flight loads. The problem comes from the fact that the prop would tend to sever a boom near the point where it attaches to the wing, as evidenced by the photos. Now, in flight, you have nearly the entire length of the severed boom, still attached at the stabalizer, gyrating wildly in the slipstream. This will impart all sorts of twisting moments to the horizontal stabalizer. Yikes! I guess if it did happen (assuming the failure of the horizontal tail was not immediate) the best course of action would be to slow way down, just over the stall speed, plan to put it down whever you are, and pray.

Of course, some conventional twins have even worse layouts. I used to fly and Aero Commander 500. It was an older airplane without the club seating (all three rows faced forward. Many a middle row passenger would involuntarily tuck their feet in under the seat when the engines cranked up. Loss of a prop, or a single blade on a Commander, Aerostar, MU2 etc could really ruin someone's day.

All this being said, it's not a major concern. I wouldn't base a buying decision on this point. All in all, the 337 is an excellent airplane.

Note to site admin: I used to post to this site as "Hardball." I've been inactive for a few months. Apparently, the site ate my user id/password (again). My email to you bounced. So, I gave up and registered again.

Regards,
Jim