Pawnee 150HP engine upgrade

Has anyone seen a 150hp Pawnee (PA-25) get upgraded with a bigger
engine? Our soaring club has the opportunity of acquiring a 150hp
Pawnee (donated by a member) but we would only do so if it were
possible to upgrade the engine so it could be used as a towplane. I
did a cursory search on the FAA website and could find no STCs to
install a larger engine. With only 150hp, the Pawnee apparently is a
very anemic towplane.

On Sep 14, 6:46*pm, 150flivver wrote:
Has anyone seen a 150hp Pawnee (PA-25) get upgraded with a bigger
engine? *Our soaring club has the opportunity of acquiring a 150hp
Pawnee (donated by a member) but we would only do so if it were
possible to upgrade the engine so it could be used as a towplane. *I
did a cursory search on the FAA website and could find no STCs to
install a larger engine. *With only 150hp, the Pawnee apparently is a
very anemic towplane.

There is a PA-25-180 in South Carolina that was owned bt Jeff Cloud.
Not sure who got it after he died. There was one at the Houston club
in Waller TX when I visited there last year.
Our club in SE new York uses the same combination. We think it works
well for us. The question will be whether you can get anyone these
days to sign off on a field approval which is how these ships were
converted.
If you are serious, I have copies of the associated 337's for Jeff's
airplane and ours.
Good Luck
UH

On Sep 14, 7:01*pm, wrote:
On Sep 14, 6:46*pm, 150flivver wrote:

Has anyone seen a 150hp Pawnee (PA-25) get upgraded with a bigger
engine? *Our soaring club has the opportunity of acquiring a 150hp
Pawnee (donated by a member) but we would only do so if it were
possible to upgrade the engine so it could be used as a towplane. *I
did a cursory search on the FAA website and could find no STCs to
install a larger engine. *With only 150hp, the Pawnee apparently is a
very anemic towplane.

There is a PA-25-180 in South Carolina that was owned bt Jeff Cloud.
Not sure who got it after he died. There was one at the Houston club
in Waller TX when I visited there last year.
Our club in SE new York uses the same combination. We think it works
well for us. The question will be whether you can get anyone these
days to sign off on a field approval which is how these ships were
converted.
If you are serious, I have copies of the associated 337's for Jeff's
airplane and ours.
Good Luck
UH

I have the pawnee that UH was refereing to. PA-25-180. It is for sale.
Call me if you are interested. Thanks, 803-374-7400

With only 150hp, the Pawnee apparently is a
very anemic towplane.

Is 150 hsp enough?
It was my understanding that the Jeff Cloud Pawnee did a pretty good job.
Perhaps not so well with "wet" Open Class machines but he was seen at
many sites in the SE doing a good job.
Bob

On Sep 18, 2:45*pm, Robert Gaines
wrote:
* With only 150hp, the Pawnee apparently is avery anemic towplane.

Is 150 hsp enough?
*It was my understanding that the Jeff Cloud Pawnee did a pretty good job.
Perhaps not so well with *"wet" Open Class machines but he was seen at
many sites in the SE doing a good job.
*Bob

I've reviewed the logbooks of the Pawnee-150 in question. Apparently
back in 1966 the owner at the time hung a 230hp O-470 engine on it in
place of the O-320. The 337 filed with the FAA just says they
replaced the engine, modified the cowling, moved the battery, weighed
and flight tested it at a new and higher gross weight, all in
accordance with CAR 8. Somehow I don't think this 337 would get
passed today. A later owner didn't even bother to file a 337 to
remove the O-470 and stick an O-320 back onto it. There was just a
logbook entry saying the bigger engine was replaced with a 0 SMOH
O-320 around 1992. At the last annual an A&P IA finally insisted
that a proper 337 be submitted legalizing the reconversion back to the
original configuration.

It doesn't look feasible to me that we could get a field approval to
hang a 230hp or larger engine on a PA-25-150 nowadays. Does anyone
disagree?

On Sep 19, 5:26*pm, 150flivver wrote:
I've reviewed the logbooks of the Pawnee-150 in question. *Apparently
back in 1966 the owner at the time hung a 230hp O-470 engine on it in
place of the O-320. *The 337 filed with the FAA just says they
replaced the engine, modified the cowling, moved the battery, weighed
and flight tested it at a new and higher gross weight, all in
accordance with CAR 8. *

Have you considered returning the airplane to the 1966 configuration
which appears to be the last time it was legal? Why would a field
approval or 337 be required to restore the airctraft to it's last
properly documented and FAA approved configuration?

Andy

On Sep 21, 9:06*am, Andy wrote:
On Sep 19, 5:26*pm, 150flivver wrote:

I've reviewed the logbooks of the Pawnee-150 in question. *Apparently
back in 1966 the owner at the time hung a 230hp O-470 engine on it in
place of the O-320. *The 337 filed with the FAA just says they
replaced the engine, modified the cowling, moved the battery, weighed
and flight tested it at a new and higher gross weight, all in
accordance with CAR 8. *

Have you considered returning the airplane to the 1966 configuration
which appears to be the last time it was legal? *Why would a field
approval or 337 be required to restore the airctraft to it's last
properly documented and FAA approved configuration?

Andy

I mentioned to the owner that if the last 337 hadn't been filed
documenting the current condition of the aircraft (ie. legitimizing
the O-320 replacing the O-470), then it would be possible to find an
O-470 and the necessary parts to install it and have it comply with
the 1966 conversion paperwork. He's going to order the CD from the
FAA and see exactly what the FAA has in its records as to the current
status of the aircraft.