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Cheap Pacers

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Posted

Anyone been watching the prices on 160hp sealed strut decently equipped Pacers? They are going for low 20s. I could never sell my Avid bit I wish I could take the wife and kid on a trip once in a while for less than $150 an hour it cost me to rent a 172. Leni what's a realistic cruise speed in one with 8.50s? How about insurance and maintenance? They are listed on several sites as one of the most affordable planes out there to own. Hey a guy can dream right?

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Posted

It depends. If you put a climb prop on it your looking at a 95 mph cruise. Cruise prop 115-125 cruise. It's what I'm gonna build or buy again!

:BC:

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Posted

there is a P-16 based at M48,..very rare ,..the guy that owns it is having difficulty flying it,..he just bought it a couple months ago,..  watching to see what he does if he cant get the hang of flying it ,..it has 0235 on the nose ,..fresh fabric the only thing I don't like about it,..the aileron cables are outside of the wing ,..they follow the strut up to the wing

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Posted

that is how all the PA -18s are .  they run in guides up the trailing edge of the lift strit for the lower cable.  been working just fine since... 1942 or there abouts.

 

:BC:

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Posted

Pacers are an awesome plane for cruising.  Just remember that buying the plane is only half the fun.  Care and feeding of a certified plane is not cheap...

 

I just watched the best PA-16 Clipper on the planet leave my town bound for Oregon.  (Airventure award winner and O320 powered) They guy who bought it lives in Hawaii, this will be his "mainland" ride for touring about the country.

 

 

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Leni missed out on this one, too.  :poke-poke:

 

 

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Posted

With a Borer Prop, 160HP, Sullivan wing tip extensions, VG's and 31" ABW's our Pacer would cruise near 100, burn 8-9 GPH and it got in and out like our folding wingers.

Every thing we did to it made it slower and more capable if you like rocks.

Herman

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Posted

Herman, don't give all the secrets away, it will only run the price of a GREAT affordable 4 place plane up :lol:   I still contend that it is the most underrated plane on the market right now.

 

Set up like yours was it makes one hell of a good plane.  Most of the places that you cant take that plane into, you probly dont need to be going anyways.

 

:BC:

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Posted

I like the Piper Pacer. My father had 150 HP PA-20/22 for a number of years, and it was the first plane that I spent any real time at the controls. It could pack a pretty decent load and fly considerably faster than my Sedan. If I didn't end up with a Sedan, a nice Pacer would certainly be on the short list.

 

Seaplanes North has one for sale. $35k, 180 HP and 58 gallons of fuel. I know that's a bit more than $20K+ that Joey was talking about, but that plane would be hard to beat. I took a look at it about a week ago and it seemed to be in decent shape. I wasn't looking to buy, just looking to look.

 

Over at the short wing pipers forum is a thread about how the selling price for short wings is quite low at this point in time. Which is awesome if a person is in the market. I'm still not convinced that anything is cheap in aviation, even Pacers. I think I'd use the term inexpensive.

 

:BC:

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Posted

Nate,

You still on floats?  I am hoping to get in one more trip to the lodge before the lakes start icing up.  I get home Tuesday.

 

:BC:

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Posted

Hint of things to come: My buddy Dave (Hybrid Avid/Kitfox and Clipper builder) just bought an experimental J5 fuselage to go with the Pacer wings he has...

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Posted

I made my last flight on floats right before I came back to work. I should be getting swapped over to wheels sometime this next week. When I return home I'll be going out of town for most of my time off, so I don't have any real time at home until early November. Hopefully by then the lakes will be solid without a lot of snow. I'd like to make it out on wheels at least once this fall. I think solid ice is a little ways out yet, I should think you'd make it out on floats just fine. Where do you keep your plane while it's on floats?

 

Speaking of Pacers, I was a little surprised by the number of them on floats. There are a handful of them at Lake Hood, and I've seen some video of a couple in Fairbanks. A neighbor at the cabin had a Tri on floats, and I had watched him a few making multiple runs up and down the lake trying to get off. He moved into a 180 HP Cessna 170.

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Posted

Flew in Don Lee's PA-20 a few years ago, real nice flying airplane. Like he said, the PA-20 is a great airplane to give dual in. Much better priced than a SuperCub. Side by side seating is much better also.

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post-56-0-20744300-1380502185_thumb.jpg

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Posted

Speaking of Pacers, I was a little surprised by the number of them on floats. There are a handful of them at Lake Hood, and I've seen some video of a couple in Fairbanks. A neighbor at the cabin had a Tri on floats, and I had watched him a few making multiple runs up and down the lake trying to get off. He moved into a 180 HP Cessna 170.

I have a couple of nose-gear setups from those Lake Hood TriPacers - seems like they don't ever take the floats off of them there - nose gear not much use to them on the water! They fit a Maule just fine - wonder why! Ha!

EDMO

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