PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Piper Turbo Arrow IV .. Am I nuts??
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Old 13th May 2012, 08:30
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Genghis the Engineer
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Join Date: Feb 2000
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Most of your criticisms are generic to the PA28, and would apply equally to an old Cherokee 140. But they are a fantastically successful family of aeroplanes, and very comfortable tourers. The Arrows, unlike the "smaller" models have a fairly reasonable payload as well.

Personally I enjoy flying them, and a Turbo Arrow is one of my favourites if I'm in the USA and want to rent a tourer.


Would I own one? No. Retractable gear and a variable pitch prop carry a large maintenance cost overhead for a private owner, and the extra bit of speed for me is not worth the substantially increased running costs. Plus I do think that there are nicer handling aeroplanes than the PA28, with a similar or better payload. The C182 or the AA5b Tiger for example.

So personally I like to (and do) own a (share in a) medium performance, fixed gear, fixed pitch, Grumman AA5 that does me very nicely thank you. It cruises at 105 compared to the 130 I'd get out of a Turbo Arrow, but still will get to all of the same places, costs roughly half per hour what the TA would cost me, and has a better view out and lighter handling.

And I shall enjoy the Turbo Arrow whose economies are met by a busy FBO, and are happy to rent it to me, when I'm in the USA with a few days spare.

G
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