Piper U-11A "Mockingbird"                                            By Mike Renck   The Piper U-11A Aztec affiliated with the CenTex Wing, CAF, is the only authentic representation of the airframe flying today.  When looking for a U-11A, it was discovered that the Navy only released one airframe to the public, and it was destroyed in a crash.  This possibly is the reason no others were released for sale as flyable aircraft.  While this airplane was never owned by the U.S. Navy, it is as close as you can get to being an UO-1 (later U-11A) as you can get.  In February, 1960, the U.S. Navy purchased twenty Aztecs for use as short-range transports designating them UO-1.  This was not a block of sequential serial numbers, but one place in the production "gauntlet" was assigned to fill the Navy's order.  The eighth aircraft designated to be delivered to the Navy was serial number 27-298.  The serial number of the Aztec in the CenTex Wing hangar is 27-297!  The UO-1 was originally looked at as a replacement for multi-engine training, however testing of the airframe showed it did not meet the Navy's standards for a training aircraft.  The U-11A, as it became known after the tri-service alignment of 1962, was given the role of communications and VIP transport.  In 1960 we didn't have overnight mail, or fax machines, so when documents needed to go from one Naval Air Station to another in a hurry, they were taken to Operations and given to the pilot on duty.  He would then fly them to the base they needed to get to.  When a ranking officer needed to get to a meeting away from the Naval Air Station, the U-11A would be pressed into service for transportation.  The middle seats are very comfortable and roomy.  These aircraft were also used to allow Navy pilots who had been assigned desk jobs a chance to maintain their flight currency and flight pay.  Some of the Aztecs remained in Navy service until the early 1980's. The U-11A was considered a light logistics transport and was used at CONUS (Continental United States) Naval Air Stations.  There were normally only one or two aircraft assigned to one NAS.  Naval regulations required a minimum of two flight crew for this aircraft, one pilot, and up to four additional crew members/passengers.  According to "the book", at a 75% power setting and 7000', combined fuel burn is 28 gph, and True Airspeed is 205 mph.  I have found the average fuel burn to be 34 - 36 gph "down low", and the indicated airspeed to be 182 mph (again, "down low").  The airframe is very stable and dependable, with good short field and soft field performance.