Warrior and Archer III differences?

[Alex_Ford]

Hello All,

I learnt to fly many moons ago on a Warrior that had the tapered outer wing and when putting on the first two stages of flap on base leg there was a pronounced tendency for the aircraft to balloon upwards that had to be counteracted by a decent forward pressure on the control yoke and then trimming out of course, now my question is does the Archer III (which I have never piloted) have the same balloon effect with flaps and is it the same, less or more?

Many thanks

Alex Ford

[Final 3 Greens]

Alex

Pretty much the same, as the airframe is very similar.

Ways to mitigate the balloon

1 - put out the first stage, let her settle down and then add the second

2 - read the POH and pick sensible airspeeds to take flap, remembering that the Piper flaps are not so draggy as the Cessna Fowler types and that two stages is the setting used for short field take offs, so it gives a lot of lift
Otherwise the Archer is a pussycat and the extra 20 or 30HP (depending on whether you flew a Warrior or Warrior II) adds a little extra cruise speed and climb performance.

Final point, the Archer III has a lowered roofline, so keep a specially good lookout upwards.

[TheGorrilla]

...... and because of the extra weight of the engine you'll have to pull harder when performing snap rolls.

[Alex_Ford]

Hello Final 3 Greens,

Many thanks for your reply and tips.

Alex Ford

[booke23]

As has been mentioned the Archer III is essentially the same airframe as the Warrior.

The extra power is certianly noticeable......giving almost sporty takeoff/climb performance when lightly loaded. Also the higher load capacity is very welcome, making the Archer III a true 4 seater/ full fuel aeroplane (so long as all your pax are not on the portly side!)

I did find on the one I flew that the extra power would be better put to use with a vairable pitch prop.....I found that when cruising over 120kts an eagle eye had to be kept on the revs.....it would certianly be possible to exceed redline at high speed......the one I flew might have had a fine pitch prop fitted for better takeoff performance....but running out of revs at high IAS was an annoyance.

There are slight changes in the cockpit, alot of the switches have been moved to the roof panel above the windscreen......so you can pretend you're flying an airliner!

[Flap40]

It's a good few years since I last flew PA28-161's and 181's but from memory if you take two stages of flap at just under 100kts and hold the forward pressure as the aircraft slows down, you should find that it is in trim at 70kts without touching the trim.

[Alex_Ford]

Many thanks for all your replies.

Kind regards

Alex Ford.