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When it comes to maintenance, owners should look out for wing spar cracks, as also mentioned above, and as tends to occur on all PA28 aircraft. This could cause difficulties for passengers unfamiliar with light aircraft or who need assistance climbing aboard or getting out. Indeed, in an emergency, it could even prevent everyone from leaving quickly, although I have never heard of this being the cause of an accident. But some pilots do not like PA28s for this reason, and it is certainly worth bearing in mind.
Operating Weights
There is a second pitot tube, located on the left side of the cabin, for the automatic gear system. So, yes, it's true the Turbo Arrow was flawed, a result largely of cost-cutting. But as time seems to heal all wounds, it is working its magic on the Turbo Arrow.
Question: I have never flown an aircraft with retractable gear. Will I find it difficult to get used to a Piper Arrow?
Another concern is corrosion around the throttle pushrod where it enters the guide tube in the engine compartment. I discovered this when I was unable to advance the throttle from idle when attempting an engine start in Canada. With 48 gallons of usable fuel (burning 9 to 11 GPH), I flight plan for 450-NM IFR legs, unless I anticipate dodging thunderstorms. Probably everything to be said about flying an Arrow has already been said. Owner CommentsMy expensive experience with replacing both main spars nearly six years ago is split out as an extraordinary item.
Piper Arrow IV (PA-28RT-
The original Cherokee did well, and was soon joined by the 180 and 235, giving Piper a strong lineup of fixed-gear singles meeting many missions. Since all Cherokees share the same basic airframe, the company was also able to realize some manufacturing economies. It seems there’s always a Piper Arrow on the ramp as well as a good selection of them on the used market. Flight schools have long sworn by them as relatively economical complex trainers, and owners report happy relationships with their combination of useful load and range. My airplane came with LoPresti wheel covers that offer a speed increase, plus they are cheap.
Piper Arrow III PA-28R-201 Performance
The automatic gear extension system was a player in two high density altitude takeoff accidents. Neither pilot understood that the system would keep the gear down until it sensed enough airspeed—which wasn’t reached. Neither knew that the solution is to use the override feature on the system and get the gear up so the airplane will accelerate and climb. One pilot landed on the rising terrain ahead of him; the other thought the engine wasn’t making power so he slid the mixture control to rich—and then it really wouldn’t make power at that altitude. The Turbo Arrow's engine dominates most discussions of the model and for good reason; the airframe is basically the same as the venerable Arrow. Piper fitted the tapered wing to the Arrow at the Turbo's introduction, boost- ing slightly the nonturbo model's performance and dramatically adding to fuel supply, up from 48 gallons to 72 gallons.
Empty Weight
Piper Introduces Pilot 100 and Pilot 100i Trainers - FLYING
Piper Introduces Pilot 100 and Pilot 100i Trainers.
Posted: Tue, 02 Apr 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Parts are plentiful and inexpensive compared to Beech or Mooney parts, and the Lycoming IO-360 is bulletproof. Reliability is due in part to simple mechanical systems and design. In all my 14 years of ownership, I have never had a retractable gear maintenance issue. I currently have over 1300 hours on the engine, and compressions and oil consumption have remained relatively constant.
The airplane that had been the Cherokee 140 became the Warrior, sporting a new, semi-tapered wing of higher aspect ratio than the familiar Hershey Bar. This new wing found its way onto the Arrow in 1977, creating the Arrow III. In that same year, Piper made a turbocharged version of the Arrow.The new wing improved performance somewhat, most notably in terms of glide. The extra $500 it cost gave pilots a Lycoming IO-360-C1C engine, a few knots, and a 100-pound boost in gross weight, though that was eaten into by a 79-pound increase in empty weight.
Maximum gross weight
Do that with the Turbo Arrow, though, and you’d get a red “overboost” light very soon, often followed by your mechanic’s bill for the subsequent inspection. Instead, the favored technique was to run up the MAP to no more than 30 or so inches early in the takeoff roll, then forget about it while monitoring the other engine gauges and keeping the centerline straddled. At one time, a normally aspirated 200-HP Piper Arrow was our go-to aircraft for travel around the Northeast and occasional hauls from Connecticut to the Carolinas. While the Arrow lacked the excitement of a Mooney 201, it was stone simple to fly, had reasonable operating costs and most important to our mission—it delivered good dispatch reliability.
Airliner cruise
The new Piper Arrow, which is currently in production, is powered by a 200-horsepower Lycoming IO-360-C1C6 and comes outfitted with Garmin G500 avionics. It was powered by a Continental TSIO-360-F and Rajay turbocharger with the option for a 3-blade propeller. With strong sales proving that the overall design concept was solid, Piper made the first tweak to the Arrow. The 200 version of the original Arrow retailed for just $500 more than the original and it was powered by a 200 horsepower Lycoming IO-360-C1C engine.
It’s best to gain access to a parts catalog for the model of Piper Arrow that you purchase so that you can be sure you’re getting the right replacement parts when you order them. It’s also helpful to have a reliable mechanic who may be able to help you source the parts you need for a better price. Overall, this plane is one that works well and provides years of use when properly maintained. If you buy a used Piper Arrow, you’ll want to be sure to have it inspected so that you’re not buying someone else’s problems. The Arrow II made its debut in 1972, and it was bigger and better, featuring creature comforts like an extended fuselage for increased passenger leg room, wider cabin windows and door, plus an updated paint scheme.
All performance figures are based on standard day, standard atmosphere, sea level, gross weight conditions unless otherwise noted. Other than these, the Arrow has few problems and is generally a safe, comfortable, and easy-to-fly aircraft. Of course, there are the usual problems relating to pilot error and occasional mechanical malfunction, but not much else specific to the Arrow.
When Piper hung a 200-HP turbocharged Continental onto the basic Arrow airframe in 1977, the combination looked like one made in heaven, rather than Vero Beach. This aircraft comes with a spacious cockpit, and pilots will not get themselves accidentally bumping switches and controls as they move around. Passengers on the rear cockpit will love the generous legroom of this aircraft and the additional view afforded by the third window put into the later models. PA-28 Cherokee was introduced by Piper in the year 1961 as a reasonable option to the Piper PA-24 Comanche and to vie with the Cessna 172.
Savvy Arrow pilots learned early on to “pin”—override—the system to keep the gear retracted when doing any sort of max-performance work. The Arrow handles much like any PA-28, which is to say it’s fairly benign. The wing loading is lower than higher-performance retractables like the Bonanza/Debonair and Mooney, which means a less solid ride in turbulence and at lower speeds.
More than 1,100 original Arrows were sold in the first 2 years of production. For more than five decades, active and dedicated aircraft owners and pilots have turned to AVIATION CONSUMER to answer their most important buying questions. Unless otherwise noted, these reviews carry product pricing from the time of the original review. When I got the new plane, I was operating out of a 2,300 foot field, and the short-field performance was not as good as the conventional tail (lack of elevator authority at low speed).
Fifty-one gear-ups or collapses occurred due to a malfunction-broken actuator rods, trunnions, etc. Given this record-not overwhelmingly better than similar retractables-its not surprising that you probably wont find an insurance carrier today who offers lower rates purely because of the Arrows automatic extension system. As a result of the general aviation slump, the normally aspirated Arrow IV was not built for a few years, from 1984 through 1988. In 1990, Piper finally dropped the T-tail and went back to the conventional arrangement.
Piper chose long ago to put the engine gauges near the power controls, which makes a certain amount of sense, but wed rather see the gauges up in the pilots line of sight where theyre hard to miss. After Piper Aircraft declared bankruptcy in 1991, it was reformed as the New Piper Aircraft company in 1995. By 2006, the original name had been resurrected as had some favorite aircraft lines, among them the Arrow.
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