Piper Vagabond
The PA-15 was the first post-World War II Piper aircraft design. It utilized much of the same production tooling that created the famous Piper Cub, as well as many of the Cub structural components (tail surfaces, landing gear, most of the wing parts). The Vagabond has a wing that is one bay shorter (~30 feet versus 36 feet) than that on the Cub, which lead to the unofficial designation of Short-wing Piper. This allowed the aircraft to be built with minimal material, design and development costs, and is credited with saving Piper Aircraft from bankruptcy after the war.
Vagabonds used a new fuselage with side-by-side seating for two instead of the Cubs’ tandem (fore and aft) seating.
The PA-17 Vagabond version features dual controls, enabling it to be used for pilot training. It has a bungee cord shock-absorbed undercarriage (solid gear on the PA-15), and a 65 hp Continental A-65 engine.
In June 2008 there were still 222 PA-15s and 126 PA-17s still registered in the USA.
There were 13 PA-15s and 12 PA-17s registered in Canada in June 2008.
The design may see a minor resurgence, as based on weight and speed qualifications, it qualifies as a Light Sport Aircraft, and can be flown by those acquiring a less-restrictive Ultralight Pilot license.
General characteristics
- Crew: two in side-by-side seating
- Length: 18 ft 8 in (5.69 m)
- Wingspan: 29 ft 3 in (8.92 m)
- Empty weight: 281 lb (1934 kg)
- Gross weight: 1100 lb (498 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-145, 65 hp (49 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 100 mph (163 km/h)
- Cruise speed: 90 mph (146 km/h)
- Range: 250 miles (405 km)
- Service ceiling: 10,000 ft (3077 m)
- Rate of climb: 510 ft/min (2.6 m/s)
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