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| The first flush of sales success which followed the end of World War II was followed by a period of near disaster when the US government unloaded its accumulation of war surplus-aircraft on to an active market. This sudden influx of some 31,000 aircraft at highly attractive prices almost paralysed the activities of companies like Beech, Cessna and Piper that were building general-aviation aircraft for the popular market. The introduction of Piper's PA-14 Family Cruiser was one of the steps taken to offset this situation, the other being the design and development of a low-cost utility aircraft as a crash programme. Of the same general configuration as the Piper Cub, it reintroduced a shorter-span wing and a low-powered Avco Lycoming O-145-B2 engine, and there were no 'frills' as standard. Which meant, of course, that the basic practical flying machine could be obtained at low cost, and the more de luxe accessories could be added later, as and when they could be afforded. Designated Piper PA-15, the prototype was flown for the first time on 29 October 1947 and this new machine was soon winning orders. By the autumn of 1948, when the market was showing signs of recovery, Piper introduced the PA-17 Vagabond which was powered by a 48kW Continental A65-8 engine and again equipped with the 'frills' as standard. When production ended, Piper had built a combined total of 585 of these two versions, but the company had earlier added to this success by introducing a four-seat version of the PA-15; designated PA-16 Clipper, and powered by an 86kW Avco Lycoming O-235-C1 engine, this utility four-seater was built to a total of 726 from 1949.
| MODEL | PA-15 |
| ENGINE | 1 x Avco Lycoming O-145-B2 flat-four piston engine, 48kW |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 499 kg | 1100 lb |
| Empty weight | 281 kg | 620 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 8.92 m | 29 ft 3 in |
| Length | 5.69 m | 19 ft 8 in |
| Height | 1.83 m | 6 ft 0 in |
| Wing area | 13.7 m2 | 147.47 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 164 km/h | 102 mph |
| Ceiling | 3810 m | 12500 ft |
| Range | 410 km | 255 miles |
| javier Rodriguez, e-mail, 19.07.2009 03:32 Yo soy propietario de un PA 17 vagabon,es el unico que hay en Uruguay, y tengo el honor de haber ganado el primer premio Campeon Clasico de la EAA argentina 2009.- Si alguien desea ver foto,puedo enviar. reply | | Martin R Goldfarb, e-mail, 03.02.2009 21:46 Try the Short Wing Piper Club www.ShortWingPipers.Org for copies of the original PA15 /17 plans reply | | Fred, e-mail, 14.11.2008 04:51 Had a Pa-17 it was a nice little plane. I am sorry I sold it. The closest thing to the PA-17 is the Wagaero classic plans built. I had one of those that was partially finished and never should have let it go either. Wish I had them both back again.To soon old and to late smart.Have fun.
Fred. reply | | Daniel, e-mail, 11.06.2008 07:42 The PA-16 Clipper should be listed as a completely different aircraft from the PA-15 /17 models. All 724 units were produced in 1949. Following a complaint and suit threat by PanAm over the use of the Clipper name, the production was stopped in October of 1949, the design was modified for the O-290 engine, control wheels replaced the stick and slight mods to the landing gear was made and the production continued under the Pacer name in February of 1950. It was therefore the forerunner to the popular tri-pacer. reply | |
| | richard van tries, e-mail, 08.04.2008 03:19 Your facts as i remember are a little off. Mr piper and our design team were ordered to produce this plane to use up supplies. The company was broke, nothing was selling, A new york banker was running the company, he said build it. PA15 had single controls also a horrible rigid gear. The 65hp lycoming would regularly blow head gaskets, it was awful ! PA17 was a little better with dual controls and a shock cord gear. As i remember we begged shriver to allow us to add a extra bay for a rear seat, no money for that. Times were bad,the vagabond was not a good plane but we did work down alot of debt so it did help. reply | | Jacques Maurel, e-mail, 18.02.2008 22:40 where could I could find building plans of the pa 17 ? reply |
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