AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2017 - 46

PILOT BRIEFING
Vref value
Vref, which offers aircraft
value estimates, suggests
a retail price for the Piper
Comanche 250 of $37,000
for the 1958 model to
$46,000 for a 1964 model.
For a turbocharged engine
add $5,000.
RECENT ADVERTISED PRICES

BUDGET BUY

Piper Comanche 250
Retract the gear and git along little dogie
B Y A LTO N K . M A R S H

IT MAY BE OLD but it's not old and slow. It will whip a Cessna 182's tail any day, carrying about the same weight with full fuel. Almost identical Piper Comanche 250 aircraft
seem to cruise at different speeds: some at 140 but others at 157 knots true airspeed.
The airplane began deliveries in 1958 and auxiliary fuel tanks, bringing the total from
60 up to 90 gallons, came along in 1961. The gross weight jumped from 2,800 pounds
to 2,900 pounds that same year. If you pick a 1962 Comanche 250 you'll have electric
flaps. The Comanche comes in many flavors-meaning horsepower-from 180 to 400.
Fewer than 150 of the 400-horsepower models were built. The Comanche 260 may
gain you a few knots but the 250 may be better for your budget.

Listed in Trade-A-Plane at
the time this was written
were 11 Piper Comanche
250s priced from $32,000
to $74,000. One was from
an estate sale and had its
engine started only once (in
2014) since 2005 and priced
at $25,000. There were nine
for sale at Barnstormers.
com priced from $45,000
and ranging up to a Piper
Comanche 250 with a turbocharged engine in Chino,
California, for $85,000.
INSURANCE COSTS

AOPA Insurance estimates
an average-cost Piper
Comanche 250 flown by a
low-time pilot with 10 hours
of retractable time will cost
$2,300 per year to insure.
HOW MANY IN THE FLEET?

AIRPAC PlaneBase shows
an FAA-registered fleet of
1,382 Piper Comanche 250s.
Throw in the Piper Comanche 180, 260, and 400
(model numbers refer to
horsepower) and you have a
fleet of 2,683 aircraft.
FINANCING

THE REAL WORLD

Thomas Warren of Houston is parting with his co-owned Piper Comanche 250 after eight
years because of speed. He sees 150 knots true airspeed at whatever altitude he likes, but
the Lancair 4P he now owns will travel more than 230 knots true airspeed. It literally wins
the race as to which aircraft stays and which one goes. He and his partner track the exact
per-hour cost of the Comanche to include fuel, oil, maintenance, hangar, and most costs, like
the $1,700 he pays per year for insurance, and it works out to $65 an hour. It was primarily
a business airplane and provided a reliable instrument platform that never missed a flight
because of maintenance. He had the 60-gallon tanks as opposed to the optional 90-gallontotal fuel tanks, and burned 13.5 gallons per hour when power of the retractable airplane was
set to 23 inches of manifold pressure and 2,400 revolutions per minute. "I had to go on business to west Texas in the summertime with a ground temperature of 110 degrees Fahrenheit
and the wind was blowing 40 miles per hour, and I thought I was going to be baked alive
before I could get it in the air," Warren said. His wife suggested that if he bought anything
else, it had better have air conditioning, and that led to the pressurized,
FOR MORE INFORMATION
air-conditioned Lancair 4P.
ALTON K. MARSH is a freelance

aviation writer.

46 | AOPA PILOT May 2017

Piper Owner Society, N7528 Aanstad Road, Iola,
Wisconsin, 54945; 715-445-5000 ext. 152 or
800-331-0038; www.piperowner.org; email
tech@piperowner.org. Email is the best contact
method.

AOPA Finance estimates
$370 per month at 6.5
percent for a 1964 Comanche 250 with a $50,000
purchase price. The loan requires 15 percent down and
offers a term of 15 years.
AIRWORTHINESS DIRECTIVES

There were a few over the
nearly 60-year history of
this airplane. One covered
the stabilizer horn and
torque tube, while another
concerned the landing gear
bolts. Inspections for rudder
spar cracks are required
periodically.
BIGGEST PLUS

High performance for the
money.

BIGGEST MINUS

It's 60 years old and needs
attention to detail on the
maintenance.

http://www.piperowner.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - May 2017