In 1950 Piper
introduced the PA-20 Pacer which was similar
to the Clipper
with conventional gear but replaced the
"stick" with control wheels. This 1950 four
seater had a 135 hp Lycoming engine with its
larger tail and larger fuel tanks was a good
cross country aircraft. However, the
aircraft had some bad reactions in cross
winds and pilots occasionally ground looped
the little short winged machine leading
Piper to produce a better behaved tricycle
geared PA-22 in 1951.
This example shown on this page was made in
1953 and imported into Canada in 1964. Fox
Trot, Papa, Romeo, Victor has been owned by
James Reichert of Saskatoon for the past
twelve years and is by far the most common
of the Tri-Pacers fitted with a 135hp
Lycoming. There were also 150hp and 160hp
versions of this same aircraft which was
manufactured up until 1960.
The Tri-Pacer
is a remarkable aircraft with performance
that matches or exceeds that of its
contemporary all metal Cessna 172. It is a
full seven feet shorter in length then a 172
and takes off in a shorter distance with a
higher cruise speed. A Tri-Pacer can take
off with a gross weight of 1,950 pounds and
since its empty weight is 1,060 this gives
it a useful load of 890 pounds of people and
fuel. However FPRV is only 885 pounds empty
making it almost an ultra-light, so its
useful load is a full 1,065 pounds. The
wings appear to be stubby but they are
actually 29 feet and have 147.5 square feet
of lifting capacity. The Tri-Pacer is a
little short on cargo handling as it can
only have 50 pounds of luggage and its short
570 mile cruise range is the result of its
small 36 US gallon fuel tanks.
Where the Tri-Pacer wins over its pilots is
with its performance and the delight it is
to fly an aircraft that can get airborne
fully loaded in 1,220 feet and land over a
50 foot barrier in 1,280 feet. It stalls at
48 mph and best rate of climb is at 84 mph
when it can get 620 feet per minute. At
7,000 and 75% power it will true out at 132
mph and its service ceiling is 15,000.