AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013 - 66

SPEC SHEET

So what’s a pilot with a growing family—or a lot of
good friends—to do? A six-place airplane may be the next
logical step for ownership. And while the bigger airplane
generally carries a bigger price tag and burns more fuel,
today’s used aircraft market means there are good buys
to be had, making the step up much more feasible. Let’s
take a look at options offered by three manufacturers.

APPLEGATE
66 | AOPA PILOT November 2013

BEECH: QUEEN OF THE SIX-SEAT FLEET? The Bonanza
A36 may be the airplane that comes to mind immediately when you think of six-seaters in the Beechcraft
line. Introduced in 1968 as the 36, the retractable-gear
A36 offers six full-size seats but limited baggage space in
earlier models; this was increased in 1979 with the addition of a 70-pound compartment behind the rear seats.
A 285-horsepower Continental IO-520 powers
early model A36s; the 300-horsepower IO-550-B was
installed beginning in 1984. At normal cruise, you’ll
move along at 169 knots; range at 75 percent power is
797 nautical miles, with a useful load of 1,397 pounds.
Standard fuel capacity is 80 gallons. We spied a 1973 A36
listed on Trade-a-Plane for $59,000 (described as being
“Plane Jane and all original digital radios”), but prices
trended higher for other listings, mostly in the low to
mid $100,000s.
If that’s out of your budget, consider earlier
Bonanza models, such as the S35. Produced from 1964
to 1965, the S35 has a useful load of 1,415 pounds, albeit
with a shorter range of about 475 nm on 50 gallons. It
can be modified to include forward-facing fifth and
sixth seats in the aft baggage area, but if you don’t need
those extra seats you’ll get a lot of baggage room.
You might even find a contender among Beech’s
other singles. Take the Sierra—part of the Musketeer
line—which comes in a six-seat configuration. You
can remove the extra seats and have a large amount of
space for bulky luggage such as bicycles; with a max
useful load of 1,030 pounds, you still can carry along
two or three passengers. You won’t get where you’re
going in a hurry; cruise speeds average 135 knots at
75 percent power, but range is 620 nm. Prices start at
$46,000 on Trade-a-Plane for a 1982 C24R.

PIPER: WIDEBODY WARRIOR. What could
be simpler than calling your six-seat aircraft
a Six? That’s what Piper did when it introduced the Cherokee Six (PA–32) in 1965.
That model, more than four feet longer and
seven inches wider than the standard PA–28
airframe, initially came with a 260-horsepower Lycoming O-540 that fell out of favor
once Piper made available a fuel-injected
300-horsepower engine (PA–32-300).
The Six became the Saratoga by 1980; the
retractable version is called the Lance. Piper
also briefly produced a model known as the
6X—a fixed-gear Saratoga—introduced in
2003, along with a turbocharged version
called the 6XT.
The 260-horsepower Six moves along at
135 to 140 knots on 14 gallons per hour. The
300-horsepower Saratoga can do 148 knots
with 75 percent power on 16 gph. If you’re
looking for range, you can tanker 84 gallons
in an early Six with long-range tanks and
107 gallons. Prices for a 260-horsepower Six
on the used market ranged from $42,000 for
a 1966 to $144,900 for a 1973. For the 300hp version, we saw ranges of $64,900 for a
1966 to $113,900 for a 1973. The Saratoga
trends higher; we didn’t see any for less
than $129,000.
AOPA chose a 1967 Six for a topdown revamp during its Win a Six in 2006
Sweepstakes. Although the extensive refurbishment took a full year, Editor at Large
Tom Horne had no problems locating
parts, thanks to the fact that Piper Aircraft
stocked everything needed, even for a gal
of the Six’s vintage.
STAYING IN THE PIPER FAMILY. Former
Piper Cherokee owner Tim Applegate got
the bug to buy another airplane. He knew

AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2013

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