The Piper PA-16 Clipper is an extended fuselage model of the PA-15 Vagabond.[1] Both models were designed in 1947 for the same reason – Piper Aircraft found itself in dire financial straits and needed to create new, competitive models using existing parts and tooling. The result was the Vagabond, essentially a side-by-side version of the tandemJ-3 Cub credited with saving the company.[2]
Design and development
The PA-16 Clipper is a stretched and refined version of the Vagabond intended to seat four people[1] (or "two-and-a-half to three" as often told by Clipper pilots). It is equipped with an extra wing tank, added doors to accommodate the new seating, and a Lycoming O-235, the same engine that would later power the Cessna 152. The PA-16 Clipper retained the control sticks that had up to that point been common in aircraft derived from the "Cub" family.
In 1949, the Clipper sold for $2995. The average four-place airplane on the market at that time cost over $5000. Only 736 Clippers were built in the one year of production before Piper changed to the Piper PA-20 Pacer.[3]
Pan Am Airlines, which traditionally called its famous luxury airliners "Clippers", took offense at Piper using the name for its light aircraft. As a result of this pressure Piper further refined the model, adding wing flaps, further fuel tanks and replaced the control sticks with yokes. A more powerful Lycoming O-290 125 hp engine was installed and this model became the Piper PA-20 Pacer.[1][2]
Operational history
Despite the low number of aircraft built, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, in April 2018 there were still 303 examples in service in the United States.[4]
Specifications (PA-16)
Data fromPlane and Pilot:1978 Aircraft Directory and Fonden Danmarks Flymuseum.[1][2]
General characteristics
Crew: one
Capacity: three passengers (798 lb (362 kg) useful load)
Length: 20 ft 1 in (6.12 m)
Wingspan: 29 ft 3 in (8.92 m)
Height: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Empty weight: 850 lb (385 kg)
Gross weight: 1,650 lb (750 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 1,650 lb (748 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-235 with cruise pitch propeller, 115 hp (86 kW)