Tri-Pacer

ket, especially for a person who does not have a lot of bucks avail- able to indulge his passion for own- ership. Although a few proud own- ers value their airplanes at more than $20,000, the average price of a well-kept Tri-Pacer is about $7,000-less than the price of a good new automobile. Many owners hold on to their Tri-Pacers longer than they origi- nally intended to. What was sup- posed to be a "starter" airplane be- comes a member of the family. The reason may be that the Tri-Pacer is easy to live with; it doesn't try to eat its owner out of house and home. It is a simple airplane that does not require a lot of mainte- nance or expensive care. An owner may joke about the rather awkward appearance of the airplane ("Yeah, old milk stool"), but there is affec- tion in his eyes. The original cotton fabric used on the airplane did not last long and had to be replaced every couple of years. However, most Tri-Pacers have been recovered with the so- called permanent-type fabrics, such as Razorback, Polyfiber, Ceconite and Enox. While these fabrics are not really permanent, they can be expected to last for up to 20 years. Many owners do much of the work themselves, under the supervision of authorized inspectors. "There re- ally is not much to it," one owner said. "The money you save is well worth the broken fingernails." Re- placement parts are readily available from such sources as Univair in Au- rora, Colorado, and Wag-Aero in Lyons, Wisconsin. The Tri-Pacer has not been the target of a large number of airwor- thiness directives. The most serious ADs in recent years concerned the wing lift struts. In 1977, owners were required to have the struts re- moved and inspected for internal corrosion. Furthermore, the inspec- tion must be repeated every five years. An AD issued two years ago required replacement of wing lift strut forks with machined rather than rolled threads. The former ap- parently were prone to crack. The cost for compliance was about $400. Other directives have been AOPA PILOT· 39 L (orrhrru,d issued on the Tri-Pacer's tail brace wires, fuel-tank selector valve, en- gine exhaust valves, propeller blades, muffler and throttle. (The latter required a placard against opening the throttle rapidly.) An excellent source of informa- tion on maintenance, parts avail- ability and service is the Tri-Pacer Owners' Club, Incorporated. In ad- dition to coordinating social gather- ings, the club sponsors maintenance seminars and produces a monthly newsletter that is short on hangar tales and long on technical informa- tion, maintenance and operating tips. The club recently established a computer center to collect and store 40 • FEBRUARY 1982 data of importance to Tri-Pacer owners. The club has about 800 members. Dues are $20 a year. For more information, contact the Tri- Pacer Owners' Club, Incorporated, c/o Windfield Stables, Route 611, Revere, Pennsylvania 18953. Alonzo (Lonnie) McLaughlin, the club's historian and librarian, is in- volved in an interesting project. He is developing an updated list of modifications available for the Tri- Pacer and who can do them. It is quite a project. Over the years, doz- TRI PACER ens of supplemental type certificates have been issued. The modifications include such things as lighting sys- tems, disc brakes, banner towing equipment, dropped and squared- off wing tips, fiberglass nose cowls, avionics equipment, auxiliary fuel tanks, powerplants and metal wing and fuselage coverings. Many of the original STC holders have gone out of business, sold the rights to others or stopped offering the modifica- tions due to lack of demand. The new information should be of great benefit to owners. The Tri-Pacer appearing in the accompanying photographs is a 1958 model and is owned by Alex- ander Zuk, AOPA 354066, of Balti- more, Maryland. The airplane re- cently changed hands, twice. Zuk bought it in 1971 and sold it to Ter- ry Dill, a lab specialist with the AOP A Air Safety Foundation's Flight and Technology Laboratory, after N8957D was damaged in a landing incident last fall. During his spare time, Dill rebuilt the airplane. Zuk saw the results and liked them so much that he bought the airplane back. Dill was a bit reluctant to part with the airplane, but he already is at work rebuilding another PA-22- 160 and is seriously considering converting it to a taildragger. I had the opportunity to fly N8957D shortly after Dill finished rebuilding it. One of the first things that impressed me is that tbe Tri- Pacer has three doors. One is for the cavernous baggage compartment. There is another door located on the left side of the cabin for rear-seat passengers. The front-seat passen- ger follows the pilot in through a door on the right side of the Tri- Pacer. It is difficult to climb into the airplane gracefully; but with a little practice, I managed to do it without embarrassing myself. Preflight and engine-starting pro- cedures are straightforward, except that the master switch and starter button are located beneath the pi- lot's seat. There are toe brakes on the pilot's side, only; and there is a brake lever that hangs below the center of the panel. I found it easy to taxi the airplane by using the hand brake and rudder pedals, which are connected to the nose- wheel. Downwind turns, however, require caution. The geometry of The Piper Pacer is a source of hours of enjoyment for trivia hunters and stu- dents of the marque. The first Pacer, the PA-20, was a mildly changed Clipper. It started with a Lycoming 0-235 engine, rated at 108 hp; the Pacer 115 had no flaps (as the end-of-the-tube-and-fabric Pipers, the Colt, was configured) and had a gross weight of 1,750 pounds. (See "Short-Wing Pipers", November 1981 Pilot, p. 117.) All the later versions had variations of the Lycoming 0-290-0, rated at 125 hp and, finally, 135 hp. The 125 and 135 models had gross weights of 1,800 pounds; the 135 had an Aeromatic con- trollable-pitch propeller. The last factory version, produced in 1953, still was called the 135 but had 135 hp and a fixed-pitch propeller. When the Pacer started sharing the production line with its tricycle-gear brother, the Tri-Pacer, in 1951, the Pac- er shared all the other modifications to the PA-22, most significant of which were a slightly longer fuselage, increased fuel capacity and improved interior space and arrangement of passenger and baggage space, soundproofing and panel layout. The Pacer also lost its toe brakes and shared the brake lever that hung be- low the instrument panel. In its last year of production, the Pacer was being outsold five to one by the Tri- the landing gear is such that a gust of wind under the upwind wing or the tail can tip the airplane over, if it is being turned too quickly. Like all short-wing Pipers, the Tri-Pacer is fun to fly. On a cold and blustery autumn afternoon, the lightly loaded airplane sprang eager- ly into the air and climbed like a kite. With the short wings and rela- Pacer. The nose gear was the wave of the future and the clarion of the "drive it into the sky" school of aircraft market- ing. The Pacer went to the dustbin. But in recent years the Pacer has been having its revenge. A significant number of Tri-Pacers (and Colts) have been con- verted to conventional gear. Several shops gained supplemental type certifi- cates (STCs) to make the conversions. There are many claims made for the significant values of the conversion. Some of them, particularly performance claims, have to be taken with a grain of salt. Any of the conversions do reduce weight (a net saving of 18 pounds aver- age) and drag because of the elimination of the large nosewheel. There definitely is a performance increase; the only ques- tion is how much. There is one result of the conversion on which most people agree: The Pacer looks a lot better. It looks right. In fact, a Tri-Pacer looks more like a slightly inept conversion next to a Pacer. The necessary pieces for the change can be purchased for about $1,000 to $1,200. Univair, of Aurora, Colorado, which recently absorbed Lightplane Components (supplier of many of the Pacer conversion kits) sells the basic package for $725, which includes all the necessary instructions and pieces except for the tailwheel. A Maule tailwheel as- tively large ailerons and rudder, the airplane is very maneuverable and responsive. The cables for the aile- rons and the rudder are connected by a spring, allowing the pilot to make coordinated turns using either the yoke or the rudder pedals. I did not experience this firsthand; but owners told me it is easy to over- power the spring interconnect to sembly sells for $180, a Scott for $289. Univair also offers kits to convert the brake lever to toe brakes ($325 for sin- gle brakes, $425 for dual); kits to con- vert to McCauley or Cleveland wheels and brakes (the latter will permit you to install oversize wheels and tires, desir- able for those mountain meadows). There are quite a few STCs available for engine swaps, too-up to 180 hp. Quite a few pilots who make the con- version remove the interconnect be- tween the aile:ons and the rudder, al- though the spring arrangement is pretty mild and nearly unnoticeable. A majority of the conversions incor- porate a useful change made to the 1952 Pacer: The main gear track was increased 12 inches, which improved ground handling. The conversion has proved to have some appeal for utility operations, as well as to pilots who want a more tradi- tional airplane with good performance and more flexibility than the Tri-Pacer. Unlike some other conversions of old- er, tube-and-fabric aircraft, the Pacer conversion continues to be quite popu- lar. A spokesman for Univair said that the company has sold 24 packages in the past 90 days. That is a good indication that more of us find a lot of value and flying fun in getting back to basics. -EGT cross-control and slip the airplane in for a crosswind landing. With no flaps extended and trimmed properly for slow flight, the airplane breaks cleanly in a power-off stall at about 46 knots. With a full 40 degrees of flap ex- tended, the Tri-Pacer goes into a rocking-horse routine-stall, nose down; pick up flying speed, nose up; AOPA PILOT· 41 cOl1til1utd and so on-at about 42 knots. Meanwhile, it is sinking rapidly at about 800 to 1,000 fpm. The sink rate and the rather nar- row track of the main gear have earned the Tri-Pacer a reputation as a hard airplane to land (1950s ad- vertising claims, notwithstanding). I found that, by using a final ap- proach speed of 70 knots, full flaps and a touch of power until over the numbers, the airplane would reward me with consistently smooth land- TRI PACER ings. This procedure also kept the airplane nearly at pattern altitude until close to the runway threshold. This is the type of approach I like. I confess there was a time when I would have joined in in poking fun at the Tri-Pacer. The airplane always appeared to me as a big, fat mosquito, and I thought it also might fly like one. Now, after getting a close look at it, I see the Tri-Pacer as a good, hon- est and fun airplane-one that any pilot should be proud to own. 0 PA-22-125 PA-22-135 PA-22-150 PA-22-160 1952-1954 1955-1960 1958-1960 $5,355 $5,695 $6,825 to $8,395 $8,890 $3,000 to $6,000 $3,500 to $8,000 $4,000 to $10,000 $5,000 to $12,000 Lycoming 0-290-0,125 Lycoming 0-290-02,135 Lycoming 0-320-AIA, Lycoming 0-320-B2A, hp @2,700 rpm 150 hI' @2,700 rpm 160 hI' @2,700 rpm 2,000 hr 1,500 hr 1,200 hr 1,200 hr Sensenich, fixed pitch, 2 Sensenich, fixed pitch, 2 Sensenich, fixed pitch; 2 Sensenich, fixed pitch, 2 blade, 76 in blade, 76 in blade, 76 in29 ft 3 in 29 ft 3 in 29 ft 3 in 29 ft 3 in 20 ft 4 in 20 ft 4 in 20 ft 4 in 20 ft 5 in 8 ft 3 in 8 ft 3 in 8 ft 3 in 8 ft 3 in 147.5 sq ft 147.5 sq ft 147.5 sq ft 147.5 sq ft 12.5 lb/sq ft 12.5 Ib/sq ft 13.2 lb/sq ft 13.6 lb/sq ft14.8 lb/hp 13.7 lb/hp 13.0 lb/hp 12.5 Ib/hp 4 444 1,060 lb 1,060 lb 1,060 lb l,110lb 790 lb 790 lb 890 Ib 890 lb 574 lb 574 lb 674lb 674 lb N/A N/A 626 lb 626 lb 1,850 lb 1,850 lb l,950lb 2,000 lb216 Ib/36 gal 216 Ib/36 gal 216 Ib/36 gal 216 Ib/36 gal w/ opt tanks N/A N/A 264 Ib/44 gal 264 Ib/44 gal 8 qt 8 qt 8 qt 8 qt 100lb 100 lb 100 lb 100 Ib (grouns:f roll) l,120ft l,120ft 1,120 ft 1,035 ft 1,600 ft 1,600 ft 1,600 ft 1,480 ft (sea level) 550 fpm 620 fpm 750 fpm 800 fpm 117 kt 119 kt 121 kt 123 kt N/O 115 kt/500 nm 115 kt/470 nm 116 kt/465 nm (46.2 pphl7.7 gph) (58.8 pph/9.8 gph) (60.0 pphllO gph) 7,000 ft Service ceiling 15,000 ft 15,000 ft 16,000 ft 16,500 ft 17,500 ft 17,500 ft 18,500 ft 19,000 ft 50-ft obst 1,280 ft 1,280 ft 1,280 ft 1,280 ft (ground roll) 650 ft 650 ft 650 ft 650 ft climb) 62 kt 62 kt 62 kt 62 kt climb) 73 kt 73 kt 73 kt 73 kt cruising) 118 kt 118 kt 118 kt 118 kt 148 kt 148 kt 148 kt 148 kt 46 kt 46 kt 46 kt 46 kt configuration) 42 kt 42 kt 42 kt 42 kt extended) 83 kt 83 kt 83 kt 83 kt licable. 42 • FEBRUARY 1982