Piper Papoose light trainer

[riggerrob]

Piper built a single prototype of their Papoose light trainer. It looked similar to a Cherokee, but was mostly made of fibreglass composites. One journalist blamed its demise on a dispute with unions over reduced man-hours to manufacture compared with sheet aluminum Cherokees. OTOH I suspect that fibreglass technology was not nearly advance enough for FAA certification. Look at all the certification hassles Windecker Eagle and Beechcraft Starship suffered.

 

[Dynoman]

The Piper Papoose resides in the Piper Aviation Museum at Lock Haven, PA.