Piper PA-15 Vagabond

Last updated
PA-15 & PA-17 Vagabond
PiperPA-17VagabondN4612H01.JPG
PA-17 Vagabond
General information
TypePersonal and training aircraft
National originUnited States
Manufacturer Piper Aircraft
Number built601
History
Introduction date1948 (PA-15)
1949 (PA-17) [1]
First flight1948 (PA-15)
Developed from Piper J-3 Cub

The Piper PA-15 Vagabond and PA-17 Vagabond are both two-seat, high-wing, conventional gear light aircraft that were designed for personal use and for flight training and built by Piper Aircraft starting in 1948. [1] [2]

Contents

Development

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). [3] The Vagabond has a wing that is one bay shorter (30 ft (9.1 m) versus 36 ft (11.0 m)) than that on the Cub, which led to the unofficial term describing the type: 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.

The prototype PA-15 made its first flight on 3 November 1947, with deliveries of production aircraft beginning in January 1948. [4]

Vagabonds used a new fuselage with side-by-side seating for two instead of the Cub's tandem seating. [2]

The PA-17 Vagabond version features dual controls, enabling it to be used for pilot training. It has a bungee cord shock-absorbed landing gear (solid gear on the PA-15), and a 65 hp (48 kW) Continental A-65 engine. [1] There was a small increase in climb rate and useful load over the PA-15, despite an increase in empty weight. [5]

The Vagabond was followed by the Piper PA-16 Clipper, which is essentially a Vagabond with a 17 in (43 cm) longer fuselage, Lycoming O-235 engine of 108 hp (81 kW), extra wing fuel tank, and four seats. The Pacer, Tri-Pacer and Colt are all variations of the Vagabond design and thus all Short Wing Pipers. [1] [2]

Operational history

Piper PA-17 Vagabond PiperPA-17Vagabond01.jpg
Piper PA-17 Vagabond

In March 2018 there were still 167 PA-15s [6] and 101 PA-17s [7] registered in the USA.

There were 13 PA-15s and 12 PA-17s registered in Canada in March 2018. [8]

Variants

1948 Piper PA-15 Vagabond at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum. Piper PA-15 Vagabond.jpg
1948 Piper PA-15 Vagabond at the Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum.
PA-17 interior 1948 PA-17 interior.JPG
PA-17 interior
PA-15 Vagabond
Side-by-side two-seater powered by one 65 hp (48 kW) Lycoming O-145 engine. [9] 387 built, plus one converted from a PA-17. [10]
PA-17 Vagabond
Also known as the Vagabond Trainer a variant of the PA-15 with dual-controls, shock-cord suspension and powered by one 65 hp (48 kW) Continental A-65-8 engine. [4] 214 built. [11]

Specifications (PA-15)

Data from1978 Aircraft Directory [1] [12] [5]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development:

Comparable aircraft:

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Plane and Pilot: 1978 Aircraft Directory, page 59. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. ISBN   0-918312-00-0
  2. 1 2 3 Montgomery, MR and Gerald Foster,: A Field Guide to Airplanes - Second Edition, page 72. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. ISBN   0-395-62888-1
  3. "The Vagabond Story". Sport Aviation. January 1961.
  4. 1 2 Archive 1993 No. 4, p. 93
  5. 1 2 "Service Memo No. 49" (PDF). Univair. Piper Aircraft. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  6. Federal Aviation Administration (March 2018). "FAA REGISTRY - Make / Model Inquiry Results - PA-15" . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  7. Federal Aviation Administration (March 2018). "FAA REGISTRY - Make / Model Inquiry Results - PA-17" . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  8. Transport Canada (March 2018). "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register (File download link)" . Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  9. Bridgman 1948, p. 311c.
  10. Archive 1994 No. 3, p. 74.
  11. Simpson 1995, p. 295
  12. Bridgman, Leonard, ed. (1949). Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1949-50. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co. pp. 268c–269c.
  13. Lednicer, David. "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". m-selig.ae.illinois.edu. Retrieved 16 April 2019.

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