Our Flying Mail column is an equal-opportunity zone. Truth and falsehood mingle freely there.
In the April issue a reader, Hal Stiles of North Miami, Florida, wrote to assert that “Pusher props are superior.” He pointed out that the Cessna Skymaster, the push-pull twin with one tractor and one pusher engine, performs better on the rear engine alone than it does on the front engine alone. Indeed, the evidence appears quite persuasive: “The Cessna 337 Skymaster can climb at 200 fpm on the front engine only,” Stiles wrote, “but it can climb at 300 fpm on the rear engine only. A nonturbo 1967 model has a single-engine ceiling of 7,500 feet with the rear engine out, and 9,500 feet with the front engine shut down … The VariEZ [sic], the Velocity, the Cozy and Pushy Galore all demonstrate the superiority of pusher props.”
