__NOTOC__ The Piper PA-8 Skycycle was a 1940s

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

single-seat light aircraft designed and built by

Piper Aircraft Piper Aircraft, Inc. is a manufacturer of general aviation aircraft, located at the Vero Beach Regional Airport in Vero Beach, Florida, United States and owned since 2009 by the Government of Brunei. Throughout much of the mid-to-late 20th centur ...

at their

Lock Haven Lock Haven is the county seat of Clinton County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. Located near the confluence of the West Branch Susquehanna River and Bald Eagle Creek, it is the principal city of the Lock Haven Micropolitan Statistical Area ...

, Pennsylvania plant. Towards the end of 1944 Piper announced a number of aircraft it intended to build after the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. 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 ; 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 Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

. The fuselage was produced using an auxiliary belly fuel tank as used on the

F4U Corsair The Vought F4U Corsair is an American fighter aircraft which saw service primarily in World War II and the Korean War. Designed and initially manufactured by Chance Vought, the Corsair was soon in great demand; additional production contract ...

. 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 Lycoming O-145-A2 engine and designated the PA-8 Skycycle. No further examples were built. A replica of the PA-8 Skycycle, the

Carlson Skycycle The Carlson Skycycle is an American, single-seat, low-wing, single-engine, homebuilt aircraft that was originally designed by A. Hanford Eckman in 1945 and re-designed as a replica by Ernst W. Carlson and produced by Carlson Aircraft of East Pal ...

, was built in 1995 by Ernst W. Carlson and produced by Carlson Aircraft of

East Palestine, Ohio East Palestine ( ) is a village in northeastern Columbiana County, Ohio, United States. The population was 4,761 at the 2020 census. Located on the state's border with Pennsylvania, East Palestine is 20 miles (31 km) south of Youngstown and ...

. 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.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', p. 138. BAI Communications. Downey, Julia: ''2002 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 18, Number 12, December 2001, p. 30. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851

Specifications (PA-8)

References

;Notes ;Bibliography * {{Piper 1940s United States civil utility aircraft PA-08 Abandoned civil aircraft projects of the United States Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1945

Specifications (PA-8)

See also

References