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#1
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To Pawnee or not to Pawnee...that is the question...
Our club has a Piper Pawnee 235hp in excellent condition.
We just spent $35000 five years ago to completely overhaul her...new fabric, new engine, anything that needed to be replaced was... Heres the rub...we are in the middle of a new two place acquisition with the club making a decision about getting a new two place intermediate performance. We were about to drop the hammer when a very vocal minority raised the issue of PAWNEE needing to be replaced citing extreme maintenance cost (???) and inability to get parts. He/She cited the local aero repair facility as his/her source of information...Many of us just dont see this as a problem. The replacement that was cited was a Husky 180HP...I just dont see the reasoning of such a switch...I surely would rather two a heavier two place with a proven performer with 235 hp vs a 180... What say you? Discuss...should we scrap the Pawnee in favor of a Husky? Beach |
#2
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To Pawnee or not to Pawnee...that is the question...
On Oct 15, 4:16 pm, Travis Beach
wrote: Our club has a Piper Pawnee 235hp in excellent condition. We just spent $35000 five years ago to completely overhaul her...new fabric, new engine, anything that needed to be replaced was... Heres the rub...we are in the middle of a new two place acquisition with the club making a decision about getting a new two place intermediate performance. We were about to drop the hammer when a very vocal minority raised the issue of PAWNEE needing to be replaced citing extreme maintenance cost (???) and inability to get parts. He/She cited the local aero repair facility as his/her source of information...Many of us just dont see this as a problem. The replacement that was cited was a Husky 180HP...I just dont see the reasoning of such a switch...I surely would rather two a heavier two place with a proven performer with 235 hp vs a 180... What say you? Discuss...should we scrap the Pawnee in favor of a Husky? Beach hmmm, lets see; cost of interest or lost income from the cash on a 120K Husky plus maintenance vs keeping a paid for 35K Pawnee flying. Not hard for me to calculate: 1. Keep the Pawnee 2. Buy the two place 3. Add a winch to the operation and move toward a real sustainable future. |
#3
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To Pawnee or not to Pawnee...that is the question...
I'll save a suggestion 'til last.
First, I've recently towed behind both a 180HP Husky and a 235 Pawnee at Salida, CO where the density altitude was over 10,000 feet. Both tugs did fine. In fact, I didn't see much difference. For the Pawnee: It's a known quantity. There's plenty of experience around both maintaining it and flying it. Against the Pawnee: It's old, thirsty and it's a single seat which means using another airplane for tuggie training. For the Husky, it's available new, uses less fuel and it's a two seater - and now it's available with 200HP. Against: It's expensive since it's new. The fuel cost issue is becoming a real one. According to AirNav, the average price for 100LL is now $4.61/gal with a maximum of $7.61. By next summer it is likely to be more than $5/gal average. My advice is keep the old Pawnee but minimize its use to save operating cost and extend its life - and get a winch for training and joyrides. Bill Daniels "Travis Beach" wrote in message ... Our club has a Piper Pawnee 235hp in excellent condition. We just spent $35000 five years ago to completely overhaul her...new fabric, new engine, anything that needed to be replaced was... Heres the rub...we are in the middle of a new two place acquisition with the club making a decision about getting a new two place intermediate performance. We were about to drop the hammer when a very vocal minority raised the issue of PAWNEE needing to be replaced citing extreme maintenance cost (???) and inability to get parts. He/She cited the local aero repair facility as his/her source of information...Many of us just dont see this as a problem. The replacement that was cited was a Husky 180HP...I just dont see the reasoning of such a switch...I surely would rather two a heavier two place with a proven performer with 235 hp vs a 180... What say you? Discuss...should we scrap the Pawnee in favor of a Husky? Beach |
#4
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The Pawnee is a tough bird, frame-wise, making it ideal for towing and off-feild retreives.
There are alternatives to lycoming powered Pawnee, in Australia they are trialling LS-1 Chev V8 engine power, prop drives through a belt reduction. Downside- its experimental Upside - no cooling issues, cheaper fuel, cheaper spares, cheaper engine rebuilds, faster climb rate, shorter take-off distance, quieter operation, etc, see also http://www.gfa.org.au/airworth/engines.php If more clubs took the punt on such an engine, it would be a simpler thing to get certified! bagger |
#5
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To Pawnee or not to Pawnee...that is the question...
bagmaker wrote:
The Pawnee is a tough bird, frame-wise, making it ideal for towing and off-feild retreives. There are alternatives to lycoming powered Pawnee, in Australia they are trialling LS-1 Chev V8 engine power, prop drives through a belt reduction. Downside- its experimental Upside - no cooling issues, cheaper fuel, cheaper spares, cheaper engine rebuilds, faster climb rate, shorter take-off distance, quieter operation, etc, see also http://www.gfa.org.au/airworth/engines.php If more clubs took the punt on such an engine, it would be a simpler thing to get certified! The Swedes did a similar thing with a 225 hp Volvo V8 and claimed that they got the liquid cooling advantage (no shock cooling, so faster turnround) as well as hugely reduced fuel and engine maintenance costs. I remember seeing a report in S&G and a search for "Pawnee Volvo engine" will turn up online references. -- martin@ | Martin Gregorie gregorie. | Essex, UK org | |
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