PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Piper Turbo Arrow IV .. Am I nuts??
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Old 13th May 2012, 18:48
  #18 (permalink)  
3 Point
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: South West UK
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You want a four seat tourer - I've just been flying my Gardan Horizon - lovely!

I can carry 350Kg of payload with 5 1/2 hours of fuel at 120Kts - retractable and VP prop. I've not flown any PA28 above the basic Cherrokee/Warrior types but the Horizon looks better, handles much better, lands slower, carries more and has two large doors!

Mine had a landing gear collapse last year - due I believe to less than rigorous maintenance during the annual which was completed 9 hours previously. This incident trashed my newly overhauled Prop and basically wrote the aeroplane off. I took the insurance payment, bought the salvage and have spent the past six months funding repairs which came to a conclusion with the first flight three Sundays ago. I replaced the VP prop with a fixed one to minimise costs, bought a scrap airframe to scavenge for landing gear parts and had the engine thoroughly overhauled.

You might think I'm a bit mad as I could easily have bought a nice PA28 for the cost of repairing this Horizon but ... It's a very nice aeroplane and it simply deserved to be rescued!

There are of course costs associated with retractable and VP props; if you're going to have an aeroplane with these features you'd better not skimp on the maintenance - like the man said - you can pay me now or you can pay me later!!

What's the point of telling the story? Well, when you buy an aeroplane it's not just a simple technical evaluation based on performance figures and such - you have to like the thing!

I like my Horizon!

If the OP likes his Turbo Arrow good luck to him!

Happy landings to all

3 Point
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