Piper PA-8

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 (Post War Airplane 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 four–cylinder Continental A-40-3 of 37 hp (28 kW); 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 an auxiliary 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, which first flew on 29 January 1945 using the same Continental engine as the Cub Cycle. The aircraft was further modified in 1945 with a four-cylinder 55 hp (41 kW) Lycoming O-145-A2 engine and designated the PA-8 Skycycle. No further examples were built.

PA-8 Skycycle
Role Light aircraft
Manufacturer Piper Aircraft
Designer A. Hanford Eckman[1]
First flight 1945
Number built 2
Variants Carlson Skycycle

A replica of the PA-8 Skycycle, the Carlson Skycycle, was built in 1995 by Ernst W. Carlson and produced by Carlson Aircraft of East Palestine, Ohio. Carlson intended to sell the aircraft in kit form, but no orders were forthcoming and the prototype was donated to the Piper Aviation Museum, since the original PA-8 was no longer in existence.[1][2][3][4]

Specifications (PA-8)

Data from [5]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 15 ft 8 in (4.78 m)
  • Wingspan: 20 ft 0 in (6.10 m)
  • Height: 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m)
  • Gross weight: 630 lb (286 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Lycoming O-145-A2 four-cylinder horizontally opposed air-cooled, 55 hp (41 kW)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 120 mph (190 km/h, 100 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 95 mph (153 km/h, 83 kn)
  • Range: 400 mi (640 km, 350 nmi) with reserves

See also

Aircraft with the same name:

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piper aircraft.
Notes
  1. Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, p. 138. BAI Communications. ISBN 0-9636409-4-1
  2. Downey, Julia: 1999 Kit Aircraft Directory, Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, p. 42. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851
  3. Downey, Julia: 2001 Kit Aircraft Directory, Kitplanes, Volume 17, Number 12, December 2000, p. 39. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851
  4. Downey, Julia: 2002 Kit Aircraft Directory, Kitplanes, Volume 18, Number 12, December 2001, p. 30. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851
  5. Peperell/Smith 1987, pp. 47-53
Bibliography
  • Peperell, Roger W; Smith, Colin M (1987). Piper Aircraft and their forerunners. Tonbridge, Kent, England: Air-Britain. ISBN 0-85130-149-5.
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