Pawnee Warrior Explained

The Pawnee Warrior was an American helicopter that was designed and produced by Pawnee Aviation of Longmont, Colorado. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.[1]

Design and development

The Warrior was designed to comply with the US Experimental - Amateur-built aircraft rules. It featured a single 211NaN1 diameter two-bladed main rotor, a two-bladed tail rotor, both made from single metal extrusions. The kit's drive components were intended to be supplied complete and ready to install. The aircraft had a single-seat open cockpit without a windshield and skid-type landing gear. A cockpit enclosure was optional. The standard engine used was a twin cylinder, air-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition 650NaN0 Hirth 2706 powerplant.

The aircraft fuselage was made from steel and aluminum tubing and supplied in three major bolt-together sub-assemblies. It had an empty weight of 4370NaN0 and a gross weight of 8500NaN0, giving a useful load of 4130NaN0. With full fuel of the payload for the pilot and baggage was 3290NaN0.

The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the planned assembly kit as 80 hours.

The company said "the Warrior was used [as] a proof of concept platform to develop new models" and was followed by the two place Pawnee Chief.[2]

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that one aircraft had been completed and was flying.

By April 2015 no examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration and it is likely that no examples exist any more.[3]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 327. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.
  2. Web site: What happened to the "Warrior" helicopter?. 1 April 2015. Pawnee Aviation. https://web.archive.org/web/20021013081601/http://www.pawneeaviation.net/frequently_asked_questions.htm . 13 October 2002.
  3. Web site: Make / Model Inquiry Results. 1 April 2015. Federal Aviation Administration. 1 April 2015.