Piper went for a common family look with the T-tail Tomahawk, Arrow IV and Lance two as it was fashionable amongst airliners of the time, with a theoretical speed gain of having the stabilator up in 'clean' air. Unfortunately, the speed gain for Piper was minimal and more than outweighed by some handling disadvantages.
In terms of the Wycombe Lance II accident
https://assets.publishing.service.go...RHHT_03-12.pdf
The pilot would have had enough runway, even though it was a warm day, he was at least 186lbs overweight (and it is thought that he had full tanks after fuelling, rather than 60usg) and an aft of rear c of g (which is a real no-no in a PA32) if he hadn't mis-handled the take-off.
That everyone walked away from this accident, was truly amazing!