Here's an interesting one, of which VERY few photos exist. The Cessna 327, unofficially called the "Baby Skymaster". Purely a one-off concept aircraft, it was built to explore the possibility of offering a smaller, less complex, and less expensive version of the Skymaster. In effect, it was to the Skymaster what a 172 is to a 210...unpressurized, with seating for four passengers and equipped with two 160-hp engines. Of note is the wing design. Notice that it has no wing struts. The end result is a very nice-looking, clean design. But such a design is typically more expensive to produce, so it's surprising to see it on an aircraft that was intended to cost less than its more expensive counterpart. This wouldn't be a true Cessnateur post without featuring some crazy, rare detail. And that detail, in this case, is the shrouded rear propeller. The shroud was never intended to be a part of the Cessna 327 design. For reasons unknown, Cessna offered the aircraft to NASA for use in a noise-reduction study. NASA used the 327 to examine how effectively the shroud could reduce the noise of the rear prop. When the testing was complete, they returned the 327 to Cessna, who then promptly either hid it forever or destroyed it completely. Which kills me, because I'd personally love to have a less expensive, smaller version of a Skymaster. Most of my friends and family live on the other side of Lake Michigan, and I can tell you from experience that when flying a single-engine aircraft across that lake, the engine tends to make some very concerning sounds when you're about halfway across. If any of you fine AvGeeks can find more photos of the 327, please send them my way! ⠀ . Follow @cpt_disk0 ⠀⠀⠀ .⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ #avgeek #aircraft #aviation #pilot #avpic #avpics #instaplane #instapilot #instaaviation #flight #flying #plane #planes #airplane #instagramaviation #aircraftrecognition #cessnateur #aopa #eaa #skymaster #cessna337 #engineering #nasa
