Earth

2008
INDEX


Fuel Supply
Management


Purchasing
Parts


Skymaster
Checklists


Ditching: How To
Avoid & Prepare


Pilot Is
Unconscious


Flight Procedures
For The Bahamas


Weather
Websites


Pictures of
My 337G


History of
the Skymaster


Skymaster
Flight Report


Skymaster
Article


FAA Challenge
Allow EFIS



ARCHIVE


May 3-5, 2002
Bahamas Meeting


May 2005 SOAPA
Miami Stop-over


May 2005 SOAPA
Bahamas Side-trip


  

NEWS: SOAPA's Meetings and Fly-ins
The Skymaster Owners and Pilots Association (SOAPA) has announced that its 2008 Annual Meeting and Fly-In will be held on June 11-14 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. A great combination of topics and speakers are planned, including Thomas Van Hare, who will talk about his upcoming book covering the shootdown of Skymasters over the straights of Cuba in 1996. For complete information and registration please click here.

Last year's Annual Meeting and Fly-In was held on May 16 - 18 in Lucaya, Grand Bahama Island. It was preceded by optional stops in Daytona Beach and a Bahamian out-island on May 14 and 15, respectively. Participants reported that it was great fun. Pictures of the event may be seen halfway down this page of messages.

Last year's event was the 6th consecutive annual Fly-In and Meeting of Skymaster owners and follows the successful meeting of 2006 in Las Vegas and the fabulous 2005 meeting in Key West, which included a prior flight to the Bahamas and a night in Miami. A report of that meeting may be found near the bottom of this page of messages and on the following page.

Skymaster Flight Video
February 2006 marks the 10th anniversary of the two Skymasters shot down by Cuban Migs over international waters. A professional documentary of the incident, which premiered on February 24, 2006, has a vivid recreation of the attack. A video trailer, with good shots of Skymasters flying over water, may be viewed by clicking here.

This Website
SkymasterUS.com1 is for owners and operators of Cessna Skymaster aircraft (models 336, 337, and O-2). It serves as a back-up to SOAPA's www.337skymaster.org, a site considerably larger than this one with significant resources, including lots of pictures of Skymasters and a lively Message Board where owners and pilots discuss a myriad of Skymaster issues. Please keep this site bookmarked in your computer; if SOAPA's site goes down we'll post information here to keep us in contact until his site comes back up.

Here you will find Skymaster material not found in SOAPA's website, including a page on managing fuel on Skymasters and a parts-buying page with money-saving ideas and a list of suppliers. There are also links to other Skymaster information on the Internet. This website is provided pro bono by Ernie Martin2. Your use of the material provided here and in the links is subject to the Disclaimer and Release3 below.



1. US in the website name stands for whatever you like. Maybe "United States" (where the website is based), maybe "us" (since it's run by owners and operators) or maybe "Unofficial Site" (since we're not endorsed by Cessna). This website is not affiliated with SOAPA and any announcement of SOAPA activities is provided solely as a courtesy for the benefit of readers.

2. Ernie Martin, a mechanical/aerospace engineer with a Master's degree from Caltech, spent nearly 20 years in satellite communications, 10 years in the jet engine business (involved with used and overhauled aviation parts) and has also consulted for various companies, including GE (see Résumé for more details). Based in Miami, he frequently flies his '73 337G over Caribbean waters. He has flown his previous Skymaster (a '69 Cessna 337D) on search-and-rescue (SAR) missions over the Florida Straits, and on a round-trip from Miami to Boise, ID. He may be reached at .

3. Disclaimer and Release: The author believes that the information presented here is generally accurate, but it is provided without any warranty. The information is presented for reference only, should not be relied upon, and should be used only to augment other information obtained from official/reliable/credible sources. If some of this information conflicts with that obtained from other sources, ignore this information. Finally, you use this information solely at your risk and, by using it, you agree to release the author from any liability.