Is a PA12 just a J5A with a few more HP? Saw one with bushwheels on the other day. And can you put a 150 HP in a J5A?

Tim

Yea, that was a J-5 at our fly-in, from Winnemucca with a 150 Lyc. on bushwheels, "Glacier Cub"...

There are some differences, not sure exactly what. I think the PA12 is to the J5 about what the PA18 is to the PA11. The early J5's had the J3 style gear, but I think the later examples had the PA-12/PA-20 style. I've seen quite a few J5's fitted with 290's, though I believe they had 85's or 90's to begin with. There was also an L-bird version of the J5, the HE-1, configured with a swing-open turtledeck to carry a litter. A friend of mine had a nice 290-powered one, featuring some nose art with the name "litterbug".

Eric

The PA-12 has the same fuselage as the J-5. From there they don't seem to have much in common. I've got around 100 hours between a J5A and a PA-12. The Contintental C90 (90hp) powered J5A, without flaps, electrical system, etc, will outperform a PA-12 with flaps and electrical behind the Lycoming 0-320 150hp engine, any day. The PA-12 does as advertised though, it's a "Super Cruiser" compared to the J5. For off airport work, I'd prefer the J5A with the climb prop. Both tons of fun though!

Doesn't the J-5 have wood spars and no metal fuel tank covers?
Dave

d.grimm wrote:Doesn't the J-5 have wood spars and no metal fuel tank covers?

Since the title of this thread specifically mentions the J5A I will comment directly on that model. The J5A does indeed have wood spars. it also originally had a 75 hp Continental engine, an open J3-style cowl (actually quite a bit different in detail than a J3 cowl, but similar in appearance to the "untrained" eye), no electrical system, and J3-style landing gear (from the standpoint of exposed shock struts and cabane under the fuselage).

The airplane would have originally had one 19 gallon fuel tank in the right wing. This tank is constructed in such a way that the top of the tank becomes the top of the wing so there is no "cover" over the tank. Some airplanes had a second 19 gallon tank in the left wing. These tanks are not the same as the tanks in the later PA-12 airplanes, nor are they the same as wing tanks that would be installed in a J3.

The J5A does have the same aileron system as a PA-12. All cables are internal and the ailerons are actuated by pushrods driven by bellcranks inside the wing. There are no exposed cables on the wing or strut.

A major difference is the maximum gross weight of the airplanes. A J5A has a max gross of 1450 lbs. A PA-12 has a max gross of 1750 lbs. If you start with a J5A and add a bunch of mods, especially if one of those mods is a heavier Lycoming engine, you run out of useful load pretty quickly.

The J5A I owned had a C-90 in place of the original 75 hp engine. Otherwise it was stock. What a nice flying airplane! Probably the nicest flying Piper I've ever flown. A real joy to fly, and a great ski plane too. I've flown a number of PA-12s too, and each had its own personality. Nice planes, but not as purely nice as the J5.