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cook11
02-16-2013, 10:04 PM
I was thinking about this. Besides the tandem seat conversion has anyone ever seen or known anyone who has built an experimental Pawnee? I'm curious to know how wide the cockpit area is? I have a Contact Magazine article where a fella built a pawnee powered it with a GM 350 and converted it to tandem seating it seemed like a nest project... Certainly different!

John_McF
02-17-2013, 06:37 AM
There is a legal 2 seat Side by Side variant here in Australia. Was a Modification to a single, complete with dual controls including throttle and the hopper was kept intact. Had a big hat shelf too.

A sample rego of one for images is VH-PIT - Australia Register. I have about 30 odd hours in it towing gliders.

235hp model was the basis of the modification. Flies like a Pawnee, just cant see that well out the rh side.

The extra drag was great for coming down with. The fuselage blanked off the horiz stab a little and you lost out a little on the feel and elevator power when landing. This made if not as nice as a single to land once in the flare; it slowed down faster than a single and didn't float as much - It was perfectly acceptable but really strong cross winds, that you would take in a single, you would shy away from in this one.

If it had 260hp it would be a fantastic Glider tug; it would go up well and come down like a greased up BBQ plate.

Cheers
John

cook11
02-17-2013, 09:24 AM
John

yes I remember seeing that plane on the web Gippsland Fatman I believe is what it is called. I would be interested in a auto conversion whether it be a Rotary 13B, Ford v6 , or small block v8. I've always liked the looks of the Callair A2 but 3-4 seat would be ideal like my Pacer....

SuperPacer
02-17-2013, 10:40 AM
"BackCountry Pawnee",
This one was at Johnson Creek ID last June, attending the SuperCub Fly-Inn. It was really nicely done. I believe it was from Oregon or Washington. The 35" ABW's almost looked normal!

John
UTAH Pacer
801 499-0413

PeterL
02-17-2013, 11:12 AM
There is a Pawnee out here in in Ontario just north of Toronto that pulls gliders. A couple of our Pilots at Jazz fly this on the weekends. It would be fun to fly, great vis...

Peter

cook11
02-17-2013, 02:03 PM
Where would I be able to find fuselage drawings with dimensions? Also google Laviasa Master TT it's a modern production Pawnee with tandem seating and a bubble canopy with a spring gear... Looks pretty nice!

John_McF
02-17-2013, 04:17 PM
Hi Cook

The GA Fatman is what a Pawnee would be if you need to earn a buck off of it, and is it's own aircraft as opposed to a Pawnee with tricked up bits bolted on. It is still currently in low rate (very) production. It also has improved somewhat considerably in all the area's where Pawnee's were quite poor in.

The 2 seat side by side is an entirely different animal, was a mod of a single pawnee - Fieldair in Ballarat, Victoria Australia from memory use to do these - this was seventies stuff though.

The TT, it looks nice.... There are many a Pawnee driver that has escaped an upside down pawnee. I wouldn't look at a TT until they showed me one deliberately tipped upside down at 40 knots. Don't know if you have spent a day, at 40 deg C, towing gliders or spreading, but that little roof and the shade it has is worth it. Straight flat Plexi is cheap to fix too.

Cheers
John

cook11
02-17-2013, 06:35 PM
Was the fieldair version a side by side two seater or tandem?

John_McF
02-17-2013, 07:49 PM
Side by Side. have a look here:
http://www.edcoatescollection.com/ac1/austmz/VH-PIT.html

Cheers
John