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tire guard
Don
If you have a 336 there is a possibility you might be able to adopt one.
I am not aware there is such a beast for a 337. Inflation of the front strut mentioned earlier helps.
There are proceedures for takeoff such as getting at least 20mph before kicking in the front engine. In extreme cases you can lift the AC nose off the ground increasing angle of attack prior to adding full power on the front engine.
Most of the damage is caused running up the A/C on the ground. Suggest you have a mat underneath, grass, or ashphalt otherwise don't do the runup. My understanding is the rear engine is high enough that it will not "suck" up foreign objects. The front prop is rather close to the ground which ends up with higher than normal abrasion. Good reason to keep the struts inflated to the higher end of the spec.
Propguard is a teflon tape about 6" wide that you can put on the leading edge of the prop to reduce abrasion. Stones and nuts and bolts will certainly cause FOD.
There have been past posts indicating the 337 has been used on rough terrain without incident. You can see all the pics from o-2's in Vietnam running from plowed strips or natural terrain which was SOP.
Again, I am NOT AWARE of any certified stone deflectors made for any skymaster.
Bob
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