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From: cfiaime@ihnp4.UUCP (Jeff Williams)
Newsgroups: net.aviation
Subject: Re: Sidewinder vs. 172
Message-ID: <685@ihnp4.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 29-Nov-84 09:39:13 EST
Article-I.D.: ihnp4.685
Posted: Thu Nov 29 09:39:13 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 30-Nov-84 07:29:57 EST
References: <3304@rabbit.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 37

Mention was made of the Piper Enforcer...

Indeed, this is based on the North American P-51 as modified 
by Cavalier.  Back in the late 1960's, this small Florida based
company modified several P-51D's with Rolls-Royce Dart turbine
engines as a possible attack airplane for use in Southeast Asia.
The response was, as they say, underwhelming.  However, the idea
was sound...

Enter, in the early 1970's, Piper Aircraft.  They bought the rights
to the P-51 from Cavalier who had bought the rights from North 
American in the late 1950's.  The first Piper Enforcer was indeed
a modified 1944 model P-51D which had been through the Cavalier
rebuild program a mere fifteen years before.  This particular
airframe still exists at the Piper Lakeland plant.

Well, Piper has been trying for oh these many years to find a buyer
for this machine.  Lets face it, the beast will out A-10 an A-10
on everything except the 30mm cannon.  The Enforcer carries several
20mm cannons instead.  Congress decided that Piper ought to have a
chance to prove the airplane, so instructed the Air Force to purchase
two of the things for flight test.  The Air Force is more interested
in high technology jets, so relegates this program to the back burner.
The low-key flight test program was finished several months ago with
very good results.

About the two flight test aircraft.  These are new production P-51
airframes built on the old tooling.  Piper said that World War II
vintage parts were not really in good enough shape to use, so the
two new prototypes used over 98% new parts.  The engines are Allisons,
and the propellers are modified Skyraider units.  If a production
contract is awarded, new propellers will be used, making the airplane
perform even better.

				Jeff Williams
				AT&T Bell Laboratories
				ihnp4!cfiaime