Piper PA-8 Skycycle

The Piper PA-8 Skycycle was a 1940s American single-seat light aircraft that Piper designed and built at its Lock Haven, Pennsylvania plant. It came from the PWA-8, a post-war airplane announced at the end of 1944, which began as an aerodynamic test aircraft called the Cub Cycle that first flew on 27 August 1944. The Cub Cycle was scrapped and a similar new aircraft, the Skycycle, first flew on 29 January 1945 as a fabric-covered mid-wing monoplane with a tailwheel landing gear and a belly fuel tank of the kind used on the F4U Corsair. It was later fitted with a 55 horsepower Lycoming O-145-A2 and designated PA-8, and no further examples were built. A replica, the Carlson Skycycle, was built in 1995.