Piper PA-48 Enforcer

Le PA 48 Enforcer vu sur Wikipedia.en.

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The Piper PA-48 Enforcer is a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] powered light [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]/ground-attack aircraft built by [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Corp. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

It was the ultimate development of the original [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The Enforcer concept was originally created and flown by David Lindsay, owner of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], in response to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] program, but Cavalier did not have the political clout or manufacturing abilities to mass-produce the Enforcer, so the program was sold to Piper by Lindsay in 1970.

Design and development

In 1968, Cavalier Aircraft owner/founder David Lindsay began developing a highly modified version of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for use as a counterinsurgency aircraft.

Cavalier initially mated a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] turboprop to a Mustang II airframe.

This privately-funded prototype was also intended for the same CAS/COIN mission that the Mustang II was
built for.

The Turbo Mustang III had radically increased performance, along with an associated increase in payload and decrease
in cost of maintenance, and was equipped with Bristol ceramic armour to protect the engine, airframe and pilot.

Despite numerous sales pitches to the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], neither the US military nor any foreign operators purchased the Turbo Mustang III.

Seeking a company with mass production capability, the Turbo Mustang III, renamed the "Enforcer," was sold to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in late 1970.

Cavalier closed up shop in 1971 so the founder/owner, David Lindsay, could help continue develop the Enforcer concept with Piper.

Piper was able to lease a Lycoming T-55L-9 engine from the USAF (the engine Lindsay wanted initially) and flew the aircraft some 200+ hours.

In 1984 with a $US12 million appropriation from Congress, Piper built two new Enforcers, giving the new prototypes the designation PA-48.

These aircraft were evaluated by the USAF, but flown only by Piper test pilots.

In 1971, Piper built two Enforcers by heavily modifying two existing Mustang airframes, fitting them with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines along with numerous other significant modifications.

One airframe was a single seat (called the PE-1 and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] registered as N201PE), the other a dual-control aircraft (the PE-2, registered N202PE).

Prior to the Pave COIN evaluation, N202PE was lost in a crash off the Florida Coast on 12 July 1971 due to flutter caused by a Piper-modified elevator trim tab.

Although the Enforcer performed well in the Pave COIN test flown by USAF pilots, Piper failed to secure an Air Force contract.

Flight testing and evaluation

For another eight years, Piper and Lindsay lobbied Congress to force the USAF to officially re-evaluate the Enforcer.

Eventually in the 1979 defense bill $11.9 million was allocated for Piper to build two new prototypes and for the USAF to perform another flight evaluation.

Since the Enforcer was never in the Air Force inventory, it was not given an official military designation and did not receive an Air Force serial number.

Instead, it carried the Piper designation PA-48 and FAA registration numbers.
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By the time the PA-48s were completed, they shared less than 10 percent of their structure with the P-51, and were longer and larger.

Essentially, the PA-48 Enforcer was a completely new aircraft.

The two PA-48s were tested during 1983 and 1984 at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], Florida and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], California. As in the Pave COIN tests of 1971, the PA-48s were found to perform well in their intended role, but the USAF again decided not to
purchase the aircraft.

Specifications (PA-48)

Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982–83

General characteristics

• Crew: One
  
• Length: 34 ft 2 in (10.41 m)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 41 ft 4 in^{[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]} (12.60 m)
  
• Height: 8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
  
• Wing area: 245 ft² (22.8 m²)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 7,200 lb (3,266 kg kg)
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]: 14,000 lb (6,350 kg)
  
• Powerplant: 1× [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], 2,455 ehp (1,823 kW)
  

Bibliography

• Darling, Kev. P-51 Mustang (Combat Legend). Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 2002. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
  
• O'Leary, Michael. "Enforcer." Mustangs: North American Aviation's P-51: Past, Present & Future, Warbirds International, Summer 2007.
  
• [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1982–83. London: Jane's Publishing, 1982. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].