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En route
Fuel burned
Direct cost
Fuel cost
Tanks run dry about past before at this burn.
Mission Profile
- Tailwheel
Estimated Ownership Costs
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About the Piper PA-16 Clipper
Type certificated 1948
Overview
The Piper PA-16 Clipper is a four-seat, high-wing taildragger of welded steel tube and fabric, built in 1949 as the stretched, four-place development of the two-seat Vagabond. Piper widened the cabin to seat four, hung a 108-horsepower Lycoming O-235 on the nose, and added a second wing tank for 30 gallons total. The “Clipper” name lasted barely a year before Pan American World Airways, which used it for its airliners, forced Piper to drop it; the airplane reappeared, refined with flaps and control yokes, as the Pacer. About 736 Clippers were built, which makes it the rare and short-lived member of the short-wing family.
It is best understood as a Pacer without flaps: four seats and 100-knot cruise on the smallest of the four-seat short-wing engines. With no flaps, approaches are flown with slips, and the cabin is snug with four aboard. At roughly $79 an hour it runs a little more than the two-seat Cubs and a little less than the Super Cub. The Clipper earns its place with the buyer who wants an affordable four-seat classic and prizes the early short-wing’s rarity over the flaps and yokes of the Pacer that followed.
Key Features for GA Buyers
- Four seats on a light airframe. The Clipper carries four on 108 horsepower and a 1,650-pound gross, an efficient if snug package.
- Rare early short-wing. With only about 736 built in a single year before the name change, the Clipper is the scarce step between the Vagabond and the Pacer.
- Low operating cost. Direct cost runs near $79 an hour, modest for a four-seat airplane.
- Simple, well-understood airframe. Steel tube and fabric with a common Lycoming O-235 keeps maintenance straightforward, and the short-wing club supports the type.
Trade-offs
- No flaps. Unlike the Pacer that replaced it, the Clipper has no flaps; approaches are managed by slipping.
- Snug with four. The cabin seats four but is tight; it is realistically two adults and baggage for any distance.
- Fabric airframe. The covering needs periodic replacement; check its age at pre-buy.
- Parts scarcity. A one-year production run means some airframe-specific parts are harder to find than for the later Pacer and Tri-Pacer.
See Also
- Piper PA-20 Pacer – the direct successor: the same airframe with flaps, control yokes, and more power. Compare
- Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer – the tricycle-gear evolution of the Pacer/Clipper line. Compare
- Piper Vagabond – the two-seat origin of the short-wing family. Compare
- Stinson 108 Voyager – the contemporary four-seat taildragger rival, larger and more powerful. Compare
- Cessna 170 – the all-metal high-wing four-seat taildragger cross-shop of the era. Compare
Technical Specifications
Dimensions & Weights
- Height
- 6 ft
- Length
- 20 ft
- Parking area (ft²2)
- 986 ft²
- Max Takeoff Weight
- 1,650 lbs
- Max Landing Weight
- 1,650 lbs
- Useful Load
- Source: third-party reference 798 lbs
- Fuel Capacity
- Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 30 gal
Performance
- Cruise Speed
- Source: third-party reference 102 KTAS
- Never-Exceed (VNE)
- Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 122 KIAS
- Max Structural Cruise (VNO)
- Source: FAA Type Certificate Data Sheet 102 KIAS
- Approach Speed
- 56 KIAS
- Stall, Clean (VS1)
- 43 KIAS
- Range
- 417 NM
- Service Ceiling
- 11,000 ft
- Rate of Climb
- 580 fpm
Engine
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Sources
Where the figures on this page come from. Piper PA-16 Clipper specifications are traced to published references; estimated values are flagged inline next to the figure.
Similar to the Piper PA-16 Clipper
Similar PistonsPiper PA-20 Pacer
Cessna 170
Stinson 108 Voyager
Piper 12 Supercruiser
Maule MX-7
Cessna 120
Cessna 140
Piper 18 Super Cub
Compare the Piper PA-16 Clipper to other aircraft