American Aviation AA-2 Patriot

Maximum speed: 155 mph (248 km/h)
Range: 710 miles (1,136 km)
Service ceiling: ft ( m)
Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min)
Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
Power/mass: hp/lb ( kW/kg)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The American Aviation AA-2 Patriot was a prototype four seat, all metal aircraft that was developed in 1970-71 by American Aviation of Cleveland Ohio.

[edit] Development

After the market success of the AA-1 Yankee Clipper American Aviation turned their attention to developing a four seat aircraft. The American engineers started with a “clean sheet of paper” and designed a new aircraft. This aircraft was intended to be produced as the American Aviation AA-2 Patriot.

The AA-2 was quite different from the AA-1 in that it had doors instead of the Yankee’s trademark sliding canopy and an oleo in place of the Yankee’s spring steel tube nose gear. The aircraft had provisions for retractable gear to be installed on a later version, although the prototype had fixed landing gear. The AA-2 was powered by a 180 hp (134 kW) Lycoming engine.

The prototype, registered N488AA, was completed in 1971 and test flying was commenced early in that same year. Aircraft performance during the test flying process fell far short of the design goals so the project was abandoned and the prototype eventually scrapped.

[edit] Succession

American Aviation made the decision to develop a stretched version of the AA-1 Yankee Clipper instead of pursuing the AA-2. This aircraft eventually was produced as the AA-5 Traveler and was later developed into the AA-5A Cheetah and the AA-5B Tiger. A total of more than 3300 AA-5s have been produced and the aircraft remained in production until 2006 as the Tiger Aircraft AG-5B Tiger. History has borne out American Aviation’s decision to abandon the AA-2 Patriot project and to pursue a four seat version of the AA-1 Yankee Clipper instead.