A couple of weeks ago, I dropped into the Piper Museum for a visit. It's not a big museum, but they have some terrific exhibits for anyone interested in Piper history, including a lot of information on prototype aircraft that never went into production. Sadly, some of these only exist as old photographs (like the Duck Amphibian). There's a lot to read if you have the time or interest - I won't claim to have absorbed it all on my visit.
Two relics of particular relevance to the Historical & Hysterical forum were the Papoose (a composite, low wing, two-seat trainer) and the PT-1 (a low wing - Piper's first, incidentally - tandem seat military trainer with a birdcage canopy and retractable gear). Since my previous visit to the museum in 2007, they have lit the interior of the wing of the Papoose, which really shows off the honeycomb paper substrate of the wing. The PT-1 was in pieces on my last trip, but is now restored sufficiently for display.
Admission was $6; I spent a little over an hour in the museum. I had the place to myself except for a couple of people in the office. I think they were time and money well-spent!
Anyone interested in pictures of the aircraft on display (including the Papoose and PT-1) or more details of what I saw can find them at this link:
http://warrior481.blogspot.com/2013/01/escape-to-lock-haven.html
Two relics of particular relevance to the Historical & Hysterical forum were the Papoose (a composite, low wing, two-seat trainer) and the PT-1 (a low wing - Piper's first, incidentally - tandem seat military trainer with a birdcage canopy and retractable gear). Since my previous visit to the museum in 2007, they have lit the interior of the wing of the Papoose, which really shows off the honeycomb paper substrate of the wing. The PT-1 was in pieces on my last trip, but is now restored sufficiently for display.
Admission was $6; I spent a little over an hour in the museum. I had the place to myself except for a couple of people in the office. I think they were time and money well-spent!
Anyone interested in pictures of the aircraft on display (including the Papoose and PT-1) or more details of what I saw can find them at this link:
http://warrior481.blogspot.com/2013/01/escape-to-lock-haven.html
