I must thoroughly endorse what Sludge says; maintenance and handling.
The -1830 and -2800 are the standouts among the large engines.
In its later models, the R-3350-EA series, Curtiss-Wright's finest became a good engine once it got past 25hrs after overhaul. It's progress to quite high TBO's [depending on the operator; different organisations set different times] was assured if it was looked after.
We've operated our L1049 since 1996 with no failures and only 3 precautionary shutdowns; one for an oil leak and the others associated with props. That's not a bad record although we're only putting low hours on the a/c and compares very favourably with other users in this day and age.
G'day
