Grumman American AA-5
| AA-5/AG-5 Aircraft Series | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Grumman American AA-5 Traveller | |
| Role | Four-seat cabin monoplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer |
American Aviation Grumman American Gulfstream American American General Aviation Corporation Tiger Aircraft |
| First flight | August 21, 1970 |
| Introduction | December 1971 |
| Produced | 1971-2006 |
| Number built | 3,282 |
The US Grumman American AA-5 series is a family of all-metal, four-seat, light aircraft used for touring and training. The line includes the original American Aviation AA-5 Traveler, the Grumman American AA-5 Traveler, AA-5A Cheetah, and AA-5B Tiger, the Gulfstream American AA-5A Cheetah, and AA-5B Tiger, the American General AG-5B Tiger, and the Tiger Aircraft AG-5B Tiger.
Following American Aviation's success with the AA-1 Yankee Clipper two-seat light aircraft in 1969, the company decided to produce a four-seat aircraft. They started with a new "clean-sheet" design that was designated the American Aviation AA-2 Patriot. The AA-2 design did not meet its performance goals during test-flying and only one was ever built.
Still needing a four-seat aircraft to fill its product line, the company simply enlarged the external and cabin dimensions of the AA-1 Yankee to create the four-seater. This decision capitalized on the marketplace identification of the Yankee and its derivative the AA-1A Trainer and also resulted in 2/3 parts commonality between the designs, saving development time and production costs.
The new four-place aircraft, named the American Aviation AA-5 Traveler, was powered by a Lycoming O-320-E2G engine of 150 hp (110 kW). It would carry four people at 121 knots (224 km/h) cruise speed and was certified under US FAR Part 23.
Production of the Traveler had just started in 1971 when American Aviation was sold to Grumman and became the Grumman American division. Grumman continued production of the Traveler. 834 Travelers had been produced when production of this model ceased in 1975.
A redesign of the AA-5 was undertaken in 1974 and as a result the 1975 model Traveler featured an aerodynamic cleanup of the engine cowling and main landing gear fairings. The tail section remained unchanged. As a result of these changes the 1975 Traveler had a cruise speed of 127 knots (235 km/h). The Traveler was superseded in production the following year by the further refined AA-5A Cheetah.
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