Piper PA-15 Vagabond

Infobox Aircraft
name = PA-15 & PA-17 Vagabond



caption = PA-17 Vagabond
type = Personal and training aircraft
national origin = USA
manufacturer = Piper Aircraft
designer =
first flight = 1948 (PA-15)
introduction = 1948 (PA-15)
1949 (PA-17)Plane and Pilot: "1978 Aircraft Directory", page 59. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977. ISBN 0-918312-00-0]
retired =
status =
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 601
program cost =
unit cost =
developed from = Piper J-3 Cub
variants with their own articles =

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.Montgomery, MR and Gerald Foster,: "A Field Guide to Airplanes - Second Edition", page 72. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1992. ISBN 0-395-62888-1]

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). 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 use

In June 2008 there were still 222 PA-15s cite web|url = http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/acftinqSQL.asp?striptxt=PA15&mfrtxt=Piper&cmndfind.x=16&cmndfind.y=12&cmndfind=submit&modeltxt=PA-15|title = Make / Model Inquiry Results|accessdate = 2008-06-11|last = Federal Aviation Administration|authorlink = |year = 2008|month = June] and 126 PA-17s cite web|url = http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/acftinqSQL.asp?striptxt=PA17&mfrtxt=Piper&cmndfind.x=0&cmndfind.y=0&cmndfind=submit&modeltxt=PA-17|title = Make / Model Inquiry Results|accessdate = 2008-06-11|last = Federal Aviation Administration|authorlink = |year = 2008|month = June] still registered in the USA.

There were 13 PA-15s and 12 PA-17s registered in Canada in June 2008. [ cite web|url = http://www.tc.gc.ca/aviation/activepages/ccarcs/aspscripts/en/menu.asp|title = Canadian Civil Aircraft Register|accessdate = 2008-06-11|last = Transport Canada|authorlink = |year = 2008|month = June]

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 Sport Pilot license.

uccession

The Vagabond was followed by the Clipper (essentially a Vagabond with a 17" longer fuselage, 0-235 Lycoming of 108 hp, extra wing fuel tank, and four seats), Pacer, Tri-Pacer and Colt, which are all variations of the Vagabond design and thus all Shortwing Pipers.

Type Club

All of the Shortwing Pipers are supported by a very active aircraft type club, The Shortwing Piper Club. cite web|url = http://www.shortwing.org|title = Short Wing Piper Club|accessdate = 2008-05-13|last = Short Wing Piper Club|authorlink = |year = 2007]

Variants

;PA-15 Vagabond:Side-by-side two-seater powered by one 65hp Lycoming O-145 engine, 387 built.;PA-17 Vagabond:Deluxe version of the PA-15 with dual-controls and powered by one 65hp Continental A-65-8 engine, 214 built.

pecifications (PA-15)

aerospecs
ref=1978 Aircraft Directory
met or eng?= eng

crew=two in side-by-side seating
capacity=
length m=5.69
length ft=18
length in=8
span m=8.92
span ft=29
span in=3
swept m=
swept ft=
swept in=
rot number=
rot dia m=
rot dia ft=
rot dia in=
dia m=
dia ft=
dia in=
width m=
width ft=
width in=
height m=
height ft=
height in=
wing area sqm=
wing area sqft=
swept area sqm=
swept area sqft=
rot area sqm=
rot area sqft=
volume m3=
volume ft3=
aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=1934
empty weight lb=281
gross weight kg=498
gross weight lb=1100
lift kg=
lift lb=

eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Lycoming O-145
eng1 kw= 49
eng1 hp= 65
eng1 kn=
eng1 lbf=
eng1 kn-ab=
eng1 lbf-ab=
eng2 number=
eng2 type=
eng2 kw=
eng2 hp=
eng2 kn=
eng2 lbf=
eng2 kn-ab=
eng2 lbf-ab=

max speed kmh=163
max speed mph=100
max speed mach=
cruise speed kmh= 146
cruise speed mph= 90
range km=405
range miles=250
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=3077
ceiling ft=10,000
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=2.6
climb rate ftmin=510
sink rate ms=
sink rate ftmin=

armament1=
armament2=
armament3=
armament4=
armament5=
armament6=

Related content

Related development:
*Piper Pacer
*Wag-Aero Wag-a-Bond

Comparable aircraft:

References

External links

* [http://www.shortwing.org The Shortwing Piper Club] .