Howard Piper of Piper Aircraft approaches Fred Weick to see if Weick and Texas A&M would be interested in developing a new agricultural aircraft sponsored by Piper. Weick agreed and eventually joined Piper Aircraft as chief engineer of its development center. He produced his most famous model, the Ag-3, at Piper. Weick had envisioned the Ag-3 as being a smaller version of the Ag-1, but it became known by another name: the Piper PA-25 Pawnee. The Pawnee became the backbone of Piper’s ag aircraft production.