Piper PA-6

The Piper PA-6 Sky Sedan was a 1940s American four-seat light aircraft designed and built in prototype form by Piper Aircraft at its Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, factory.^[1]

History

Towards the end of 1944 Piper announced a number of aircraft types it intended to build after World War II. One of these was the PWA-6 Sky Sedan (Post War Airplane 6). A prototype was built in 1945 as a development of Piper's unsuccessful two-seat PT-1 trainer. Its fuselage had a fabric-covered metal frame with a four-seat cabin. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit and a retractable tailwheel landing gear. Originally to be powered by a 140 hp Franklin engine, it had a 165 hp Continental E-165 engine. By the time it first flew the designation had been changed to PA-6. A second aircraft was built in 1947, it differed by having an all-metal construction, a 205 hp Continental E-185 engine and a one-piece windscreen. Neither version was placed into production at a time when a short boom in postwar general aviation was ending.^[2][3]

Specifications (PA-6)

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Capacity: four
• Length: 26 ft 0 in (7.9 m)
• Wingspan: 34 ft 8 in (10.6 m)
• Height: 7 ft 0 in (2.1 m)
• Powerplant: 1 × Franklin, 140 hp (100 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 140 mph (230 km/h)

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Globe Swift

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Piper aircraft.

Notes

Bibliography

• Brady, Tim (2000). The American Aviation Experience: A History. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 0-8093-2371-0. 
• Roger W. Peperell and Colin M.Smith, Piper Aircraft and their forerunners, 1987, Air-Britain (Historians), ISBN 0-85130-149-5, Page 47 and 50.