This could present problems on short runways, and most of the grumbling you hear about Comanches has to do with landings.Ĭlose to the runway, those laminar-flow wings ride deep in ground effect. If you land even a little too fast, the airplane tends to float and float, while the speed slowly bleeds off. Pilots do sometimes complain about the difficulty of landing a Comanche anyway. The Pilot’s Operating Handbook recommends an approach speed of 71 knots, which may mean you need to lower flaps quickly and even do extra turns to slow down for landing, if you have been cruising at the Comanche’s high normal cruise speed. Speed reductions take some time and need to be well planned, which of course makes preparation for landing a little more difficult than it would be for slower or more staid aircraft. However, it is important to know that Comanches are very responsive….or some might say they are slippery or twitchy. Most pilots find that after a few hours they feel very much at home in the cockpit. The Comanche 250 is said to have good handling characteristics and to be very easy to fly. The result was that this quickly became the far more popular Comanche model, and by the end of production some 250 Comanche 250s had been sold. The Comanche 250, when it was produced, only cost a little more, but its 250 hp Lycoming O-540 engine meant that its cruise speed increased to 160 knots. The early Comanche 180 had a 180-horsepower Lycoming O-360 engine and a 140 knot cruise speed. So there is a huge amount of variation in prices. Since all Piper Comanches are now second hand, prices can vary immensely depending on age, model, condition, and sometimes just the luck of the draw! However, one expert source quotes a retail price for the Comanche 250 – the most popular and most common model – of between $37,000 and $46,000.Īn aircraft with a turbocharged engine is likely to cost about $500 more, and some Comanche 250s sell for as much as $74,000. Landing Distance: 370 metre / 1,213.90 feet.Take Off Distance: 430 metre / 1,410.74 feet.Rate of Climb: 1500 feet per minute / 7.62metre per second.Travel range: 1,064 Nautical Miles / 1,971 Kilometers.Wing Span / Rotor Diameter: 11 metre / 36.09 feet.Fuselage Diameter: 1.25 metre / 4.10 feet.Exterior Length: 7.62 metre / 25.00 feet.Fuel Tank Capacity: 90 gallon / 341 liter.Max Landing Weight: 1,315 Kg / 2,899 lbs.Having the same name for the two types has caused a certain amount of confusion! However, being a very different airplane, the PA-30 is outside the scope of this article. It should be noted that there is also a PA-30 “Twin Comanche”, which is a twin-engined aircraft. However, in recent years it has been to a large extent left behind by the better known Piper Cherokee models, which are still in production. Although it has not been produced since then, there are many Comanches still flying, and it is a popular and much-loved aircraft among many private pilots. There were a number of different models built during that time, most notably the Comanche 180, 250, and 260, although there were a few others too. Piper designed and built the aircraft from 1956 until 1972, when the manufacturing plant was wiped out by a massive flood and production ceased. The Piper PA-24 Comanche is a single-engined, low wing, all-metal light aircraft, with retractable landing gear and either four or six seats.
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