AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2011 - 62

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SPECSHEET
Piper Cherokee Base price: $9,995 Price as tested: $35,000
Specifications
Powerplant ..........Lycoming 0320-B2B Recommended TBO ............2,000 hr Propeller.................Sensenich 72 inch Length..................................23 ft 4 in Height ................................... 7 ft 4 in Wingspan ................................... 30 ft Wing area .............................160 sq ft Wing loading ................ 13.75 lb/sq ft Power loading ...................13.75 lb/hp Seats ...............................................4 Empty weight ........................ 1,210 lb Empty weight, as tested ..... 1,237.5 lb Max gross weight .................. 2,200 lb Useful load .............................. 990 lb Useful load, as tested ............ 962.5 lb Payload w/full fuel .................... 680 lb Payload w/full fuel, as tested .... 660 lb Fuel capacity, std ........50 gal (300 lb) Oil capacity, ea engine ..................8 qt Baggage capacity ..................... 100 lb

If these radios are updated, it’s hard to imagine what came from the factory. Warren’s panel work is tasteful and reminds us of another era in avionics.

Performance
Takeoff distance, ground roll ..... 700 ft Takeoff distance over 50-ft obstacle ... ....................................... 1,600 ft Rate of climb, sea level .......... 700 fpm Cruise speed/endurance w/45-min rsv (fuel consumption, ea engine), 4,000 ft @ 75% power, best economy ............ ......... 112 kt/4.6 hr (54 pph/9 gph) Service ceiling ..................... 15,000 ft Absolute ceiling ....................17,500 ft Landing distance over 50-ft obstacle .. ............................................. 540 ft Landing distance, ground roll . 1,095 ft

Limiting and Recommended Airspeeds
VX (best angle of climb) ..........64 KIAS V Y (best rate of climb)............. 74 KIAS VFE (max flap extended) ......... 100 KIAS VS1 (stall, clean) ..................... 56 KIAS VSO (stall, in landing configuration) ...... ...........................................48 KIAS All specifications are based on manufacturer’s calculations. All performance figures are based on standard day, standard atmosphere, sea level, gross weight conditions unless otherwise noted.

The large variety of engine choices was by design from the beginning. Piper had previous success taking a single airframe and bolting on various powerplants. When those options ran out, the company would stretch the airplane, shrink it, add another engine, and so on. By following that family tree, one could argue that Warren’s Cherokee is the great-grandfather of more than 51,000 airplanes—and counting. That’s so many of the venerable low-wings that they would stretch from New York City to Boston if you lined them up nose to tail. Incidentally, not included in that number are the actual first Cherokees. The test airplanes, serial numbers 28-01 and 28-03, are now long gone. Peperell said he doesn’t know the exact location of 28-01, but it likely ended up in the scrap heap after it had served its purpose. The history of 28-03 is somewhat better known; it was used in the test program for the PA–28-235, meaning it got a new engine and a bigger wing—although it, too, probably ended up as a refrigerator or a case of Coors cans. Longtime Georgia girl Warren’s Cherokee has had an unusual path to its current home at the Jimmy

Carter Regional Airport in Americus, Georgia. Even though it was built in February 1961, his PA–28 standard airworthiness certificate wasn’t issued until June 1961, meaning this summer marks its golden anniversary. Piper then held on to the airplane, presumably for demonstrations, until February 1962, when it was sold to Parkaire Field Inc. in Marietta, Georgia. This transaction was clearly for a salesman because it was sold the next day to South Expressway Airport, which apparently used it in a flying club or aircraft rental business. Unfortunately, both airports are long gone. Warren is the airplane’s twentieth registered owner, although only 11 or so represent true changes of ownership (not salesmen or a change in partners). Miraculously, none has been outside of Georgia. It’s been a humble journey for a humble airplane. And it’s further fitting considering the airplane is named for the native inhabitants of the state. Perhaps the most important owner is the one just prior to Warren, Robert Bynum. Bynum and his estate executors had let the airplane languish in a hangar for more than 15 years when Warren finally saw it. “Rats had gotten in it and eaten the interior,” he said. He paid

AOPA PILOT •

62 • AUGUST 2011

AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - August 2011