Piper PA-11

Last updated
PA-11 Cub Special
Piper PA-11 Super Cub CF-CUB 1947 model Photo 1.JPG
Role Light aircraft
National originUSA
Manufacturer Piper Aircraft
First flightAugust 1946
Introduction1947
Statusstill in operation
Primary userprivate pilot owners
Produced1947-1949
Number built1,541 [1]
Developed from Piper J-3 Cub
Variants Piper PA-18 Super Cub

The Piper PA-11 Cub Special is a later-production variant of the J-3 Cub manufactured by Piper Aircraft.

Piper Aircraft American light aircraft manufacturer

Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Municipal Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. In the late 20th century it was considered to be one of the "Big Three" in the field of general aviation manufacturing, along with Beechcraft and Cessna.

Contents

Design and development

PA-11 landing PA-11-Landing.jpg
PA-11 landing

The airframe is basically the same as a J-3, but the engine mount is angled slightly lower, with the windshield sloped at a shallower angle; the engine cowling fully enclosed (as on the earlier J-5), and the fuel tank raised and placed in the port wing root. [2] Both seats were slightly moved back, and solo flying was usually from the front seat. Early PA-11s had a Continental A65-8 engine, while the later ones had the option of a Continental C90-8. [2]

A cowling is the covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles and aircraft.

Piper J-5 light utility aircraft

The Piper J-5 Cub Cruiser was a larger, more powerful version of the basic Piper J-3 Cub. It was designed just two years after the J-3 Cub, and differed by having a wider fuselage with the pilot sitting in the front seat and two passengers sitting in the rear seat. Equipped with a 75-hp Continental engine the plane's cruising speed was 75 mph. Though officially a three-seater, it would be more accurately described as a "two-and-a-half-seater", as two adults would find themselves quite cramped in the wider rear seat. The Cruiser sold for $1,798 when it was first designed.

Wing root

The wing root is the part of the wing on a fixed-wing aircraft or winged-spaceship that is closest to the fuselage. On a simple monoplane configuration, this is usually easy to identify. On parasol wing or multiple boom aircraft, the wing may not have a clear root area.

On the early PA-11s, the fuselage was painted with a metallic blue on the lower half the rest being Lock Haven Yellow. The later PA-11s were all yellow with a simple brown stripe.

PA-11 Cub Special at Chelles airfield near Paris in June 1967 Piper PA-11 Cub Special F-BFMA Chelles 02.06.67 edited-2.jpg
PA-11 Cub Special at Chelles airfield near Paris in June 1967

With a gross weight of 1,220 lb (553 kg) and average empty weight of 750 lb (340 kg), the PA-11 is a light enough to perform well, yet heavy enough to maneuver easily in more wind than the lighter J-3 Cub. The PA-11 is capable of short takeoffs and landings, yet has a respectable cruising speed for its configuration. Given that the PA-11 falls into the modern day category of light sport aircraft, it is a popular airplane to acquire and commands a premium price.

Modifications

Float-equipped PA-11S at Seattle Renton in 1973 Piper PA-11S N4580M Floats Renton 03.11.73 edited-3.jpg
Float-equipped PA-11S at Seattle Renton in 1973

The PA-11 was one of the first aircraft to be used in experiments with the nose wheel (also known as tricycle gear) configuration. Although its original design is intended to be a tail-dragger, a modification was created to mount a nose wheel.

The nose wheel is attached to the two rear engine mounts by y-shaped steel tubes attached to a steel tube with a shaft that slides freely with the wheel. Cables run underneath the belly directly from fixtures on the rudder pedals to the nose wheel shaft. This gave the ability to steer by pivoting the nose wheel shaft with the rudder pedals. The shock system consisted of six circular bungee cords, sometimes four for softer landings, located on either side of the nose wheel shaft to ears on the top tube and the bottom shaft connected to the wheel.

For the aircraft to balance properly with the nose wheel, the main gear was flipped around so that the center of balance would move forward. The pilot would sit in the front seat for added stability.

Most PA-11s in service today retain the original tail wheel undercarriage layout. [3] Numbers of Cub Specials have been converted for flight operation using floats.

The PA-11 also formed the basis for the next evolution in the Cub series, the PA-18 Super Cub, which shares many features.

Variants

Piper PA-11 Cub Special
Two-seat light aircraft, powered by a 65 hp (48 kW) Continental A65-8 piston engine
L-18B
Military version of the PA-11 Cub Special, powered by a 95 hp (71 kW) Continental C90-8F piston engine, 105 built and delivered to Turkey, under the Military Assistance Program

Operators

Military operators

Flag of Israel.svg  Israel
Flag of Turkey.svg  Turkey

Specifications (PA-11 with 90 hp Continental engine)

Data from Piper Aircraft and Their Forerunners [4]

General characteristics

Payload is the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of the flight or mission, the payload of a vehicle may include cargo, passengers, flight crew, munitions, scientific instruments or experiments, or other equipment. Extra fuel, when optionally carried, is also considered part of the payload. In a commercial context, payload may refer only to revenue-generating cargo or paying passengers.

Wingspan distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip of an airplane or an animal (insect, bird, bat)

The wingspan of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777-200 has a wingspan of 60.93 metres, and a wandering albatross caught in 1965 had a wingspan of 3.63 metres, the official record for a living bird. The term wingspan, more technically extent, is also used for other winged animals such as pterosaurs, bats, insects, etc., and other fixed-wing aircraft such as ornithopters. In humans, the term wingspan also refers to the arm span, which is distance between the length from one end of an individual's arms to the other when raised parallel to the ground at shoulder height at a 90º angle. Former professional basketball player Manute Bol stands at 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) and owns one of the largest wingspans at 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m).

In aviation, manufacturer's empty weight (MEW) is the weight of the aircraft "as built" and includes the weight of the structure, power plant, furnishings, installations, systems and other equipment that are considered an integral part of an aircraft before additional operator items are added for operation.

Performance

The maximal total range is the maximum distance an aircraft can fly between takeoff and landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft, or cross-country speed and environmental conditions in unpowered aircraft. The range can be seen as the cross-country ground speed multiplied by the maximum time in the air. The fuel time limit for powered aircraft is fixed by the fuel load and rate of consumption. When all fuel is consumed, the engines stop and the aircraft will lose its propulsion.

With respect to aircraft performance, a ceiling is the maximum density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions, as determined by its flight envelope.

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Piper J-3 Cub Family of light aircraft

The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is Piper Aircraft's most-produced model, with nearly 20,000 built in the United States. Its simplicity, affordability and popularity invokes comparisons to the Ford Model T automobile.

Piper PA-15 Vagabond aircraft

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Piper PA-18 Super Cub Single engine general aviation aircraft

The Piper PA-18 Super Cub is a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. Introduced in 1949 by Piper Aircraft, it was developed from the Piper PA-11, and traces its lineage back through the J-3 to the Taylor E-2 Cub of the 1930s. In close to 40 years of production, over 9,000 were built. Super Cubs are commonly found in roles such as bush flying, banner towing and glider towing.

Piper PA-16 Clipper small aircraft

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Piper PA-12

The Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser is an American three-seat, high wing, single-engine conventional landing gear-equipped light aircraft that was produced by Piper Aircraft between 1946-48. The PA-12 was an upgraded and redesignated Piper J-5.

Piper J-4

The Piper J-4 Cub Coupe is a two place side-by-side version of the Piper J-3 that was built between 1938 and 1942 by Piper Aircraft. It was Piper's first model with side-by-side seating; combined with docile low-speed handling, this made it a good trainer.

The Piper PA-8 Skycycle was a 1940s American single-seat light aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft at their Lock Haven, Pennsylvania plant. Towards the end of 1944 Piper announced a number of aircraft it intended to build after the war. One of these was the PWA-8. An aerodynamic test aircraft was built with the name Cub Cycle and it first flew on 27 August 1944 with a small two cylinder Franklin engine. The Franklin engine was replaced by a 37 hp (28 kW) Continental A-40-3 and the aircraft first flew with the Continental engine on 12 September 1944. The Skycycle was a fabric-covered mid-wing single-engined single-seat monoplane with a tailwheel landing gear. The fuselage was produced using a belly fuel tank as used on the F4U Corsair. The Cub Cycle was scrapped and a similar but new aircraft was built with the name Skycycle. The Skycycle first flew on 29 January 1945 using the same Continental engine as the Cub Cycle. The aircraft was further modified in 1945 with a 55 hp (41 kW) Lycoming O-145-A2 engine and designated the PA-8 Skycycle. No further examples were built.

The Piper PA-7 Skycoupe was a 1940s American two-seat light aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft at Lock Haven. Towards the end of 1944 Piper announced a number of aircraft it intended to build after the war. One of these was the PWA-1 Skycoupe. A prototype was built in 1943, it was a two-seat side-by-side low-wing cantilever monoplane with a twin-boom fuselage with a tricycle landing gear. It had a Franklin 4ACG-199-H3 engine driving a pusher propeller. In 1945 it was redesignated the PA-7 Skycoupe but no further examples were built.

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Piper PT-1

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Taylor J-2

The Taylor J-2 Cub is an American two-seat light aircraft that was designed and built by the Taylor Aircraft Company. The company became the Piper Aircraft Company and the J-2 was first of a long line of related Piper Cub designs.

Piper PA-35 Pocono prototype commuter airliner

The Piper PA-35 Pocono was an American 16/18 seat commuter airliner developed by Piper in the late 1960s. Only one aircraft was built and the design was not developed.

The Piper PA-29 Papoose was an American single-engined training monoplane designed by Piper, only one was built and the type did not enter production.

The Avid Champion is an American single-seat, high-wing ultralight aircraft that was produced starting in 1998 as a kit by Avid Aircraft of Caldwell, Idaho, later Ennis, Montana.

The Light Miniature Aircraft LM-1, LM-2 and LM-3 are a family of American high wing, conventional landing gear, strut-braced, single engine ultralight aircraft that are scale reproductions of famous general aviation aircraft. The designs were all available as plans from Light Miniature Aircraft of Okeechobee, Florida for amateur construction.

The Coupé-Aviation JC-01 is the first of a series of very similar designs of two seat, single engine sports aircraft, amateur built from plans in France from 1976. These provided a range of engine sizes and undercarriage layouts, but total production was small.

References

Notes
  1. ↑ Simpson 2005, p. 230.
  2. 1 2 Peperell 1987, p. 55.
  3. ↑ Peperell 1987, pp. 55–57.
  4. ↑ Peperell 1987, p. 57.
Bibliography
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