When we think about composite materials in production airplanes, the name Piper Aircraft does not come immediately to mind.
The Cirrus and Diamond series, products of the late 1990s, demonstrated that composite airframes could achieve both production and market success. In the ’70s and ’80s, Burt Rutan’s unique designs, constructed out of light and strong plastic materials, dominated the homebuilt market.
Further back, the ’60s saw the birth of the first certified composite general aviation airframe, the Windecker Eagle. Certified by the FAA in 1969, it went on to a limited production run and paved the way for future composite aircraft. However, nearly a decade before the Eagle was certified, the newly established Piper Aircraft Development Center in Vero Beach, Florida, designed, constructed, and came tantalizingly close to producing a composite two-seat trainer, the PA-29 Papoose.
In 1958 Piper Aircraft surveyed nearly 1,000 aviation professionals to determine if there was a market for a two-place trainer. The answer was a resounding yes, and the Piper Colt, a two-seat derivative of the popular Piper Tri-Pacer, was pressed into service as a suitable stopgap airplane.
The final assembly of the Papoose was much like assembling a plastic airplane model kit.
Meanwhile, the longer-term development efforts at Piper were the Fred Weick-inspired, four-seat PA-28…
Source www.planeandpilotmag.com
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