I'm building a replica of the Vagabond (Wagareo plans). How it came to be is quite a story. The Piper firm took bandruptcy. Their bank sent a guy to the factory who moved into old man Piper's office, though the Piper family stayed on. The bank guy knew nothing about airplanes. He was taken around the factory and told about this & that pile of Cub parts.
"I want a plane with side by side seating that uses up all these damned parts. Thirty days." he said. Two Piper sons set about designing the Vag and had it done in about 30 days. The ailerons use about 2/3's of the wing because the Vag/Clipper wing is shorter than the Cub. The Vag P 15, then the Clipper P 16, then the improved Vag P 17, saved the company.
A few years ago there was a story in the Short Wing Piper Mag by a retired guy about his round trip from the States to Alaska. He and another old buddy loaded up a P 15 (little Franklin 60 HP), including camping gear. "Worked great, had a great time," I remember he wrote.
The P 17 adding duel controls and shock struts. But, people have commented that the P 15 w/o the shocks works just fine.
The guy was William Shriver of Manufacturer's Trust of New York, which held Piper's loans. Piper wasn't in bankruptcy, but was close and the bank stepped in with a severe austerity program in the form of Mr. Shriver.
All the stories are probably true - including the one about not spending the money to put the black stripe on the Vagabond.
Best regards,
Rick
