It is retracted and extended electrically using pushrods, the nosewheel retracting backwards and the main wheels inwards. Although quite short, the undercarriage is relatively wide-track. The prototype featured a trailing link undercarriage but legend has it that Bill Piper deemed this arrangement to be ‘too expensive’, and went for a straight oleo (oil-damped pneumatic spring) legs instead. As a consequence, the Comanche does have a bit of a reputation for ‘wheelbarrowing’ – lifting off prematurely and landing nosewheel-first if not handled correctly. While the main undercarriage legs are quite short?giving the aircraft its low squat?the nosewheel is relatively large (it’s actually the same size as the 600×6 main wheels).
The standard arrangement is two tanks with a combined capacity of 227 litres N61970 also has the optional auxiliary pair, each carrying up to 56 litres. The fuel is carried in the wings in rubber bladders. There is a small inspection hatch in the top through which the oil quantity can be checked. As delivered from the factory, its 250 horses were turned into thrust by a two-bladed, constant-speed propeller, but N61970 has been extensively refurbished and now features a modern three-blade Hartzell Scimitar and a fuel-injected engine.Īccess to the engine is excellent, as both sides of the top half of the cowling hinge open and can also be removed very quickly. This PA-24-250 is powered by one of my favourite engines, the Lycoming IO-540. As you approach a Comanche two things are immediately apparent: it’s a very handsome aircraft, and it sits rather close to the ground. Recently refurbished to a very high standard, it really is in quite remarkable condition. Dukeries are Comanche experts, and as this is Mark’s personal aircraft you might expect it to be a little bit special?and it is. The most popular version (and also the subject of this flight test) is the 250hp variant, with this particular 1963 example owned by Dukeries Aviation’s Mark Bonsall. It remained in production for almost fifteen years and Piper eventually sold 4,857, powered by 180, 250, 260 or 400hp engines. The sixties were probably the golden age of GA (particularly in America), and by 1964 there were no fewer than eight different versions of the Comanche available. Competitively priced at around $21,000, (some $8,000 less than a similarly equipped Bonanza) sales soared, and by 1963 Piper had sold almost 4,000. However, upon the prompt introduction of a 250hp version the following year, the Comanche really took off (both literally and figuratively). I say almost immediate because early models only had 180hp engines and were a little gutless. Christened Comanche, this fine-looking flying machine is arguably the most aesthetically pleasing of all Piper’s products, and was an almost immediate success. The prototype first flew in 1956, and the first production aircraft the following year. Luckily, the previous year Howard ‘Pug’ Piper had assembled a team of engineers to design a ‘Bonanza-beater’ and had begun work on an all-metal, retractable undercarriage four-seater that would make the best use of recent advances in drag reduction, such as laminar-flow aerofoils and stabilators.
#PIPER COMANCHE UPDATE#
If they were to stay in business, Piper clearly needed to update its product line and offer something a little more sophisticated than the ‘rag ’n’ tube’ taildraggers the company had become synonymous with.
Of more interest to Piper Aircraft dealers, Beechcraft’s V-35 Bonanza had been selling strongly for ten years and they had nothing even remotely like it. This was the start of the Space Age: Russia had a satellite in orbit, nuclear-powered submarines and jet airliners were being tested, and even cars (such as the Chevrolet Bel Air and Ford Thunderbird) looked futuristic. Although a steady stream of aircraft had flowed from Piper’s Lock Haven, Pennsylvania plant over the preceding twenty years, by 1957 the various versions of Cubs, Cruisers and Clippers were beginning to look more than a little dated. The Comanche occupies its own particular place in aviation history, as it was the first all-metal aircraft built by possibly the greatest-ever manufacturer of fabric-covered aircraft Piper. Retracing our steps, we both practically sighed with relief when we spotted what looked like a brand-new Comanche gleaming in the sunshine outside the Dukeries Aviation hangar at Netherthorpe airfield. “Well if it is, I’m not flying it!” I retorted. Keith and I regarded it in stunned silence. Photos Keith Wilsonįilthy, forlorn and with flat tyres, the PA-24 at the back of the hangar was certainly a sorry sight. The elegant Piper Comanche still impresses today, especially after a splendid refurbishment.
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