} Upgrade & Refurbish. Garmin will upgrade it to the GTX330ES, which has ADS-B Out, but requires a WAAS GPS input. I would prove that time and again in my Comanche 250. Product Brochure - click here to download Note: if you have an O-360 powered PA28-140, or an early model PA28-150, -160, or -180 (1964 or earlier PA28 There could be major panel work involved, and it might not work fully with your autopilot. Higher, and Further as well as Repair It, Annual It, Overhaul the Engine(s), They gave me a guy to call at Lycoming, and he said, I cant tell you the color of it, its proprietary. Diversity Mode S transponder with ADS-B Out when connected with an appropriate WAAS GPS. for the AUSTRALIAN STABILATOR HORN According to my Warrior II Information Manual you can reach a true airspeed of about 122 knots at 75% power between 6,000 and 8,000 feet. Click here. How do you test an engine after a rebuild without mounting it back onto the plane? (parseInt(navigator.appVersion) >= 4 ))); Rocky Landsverk is the Editor and Publisher of the Piper Owner Society and PIPERS magazine. However, while the airplane isnt intrinsically difficult to service, understand and accept that this is an old aircraft-even the newest Comanche is nearly 50 years of age. Piper kept the Comanches electromechanical manual landing gear relatively simple, although it can be a source of woes when not maintained properly. The paint I use is Imron, with an epoxy primer. 6" Wheel (Set of Two) LSM-200-701-1, Windshield Cowler Kit. The trim is generally in very poor condition, with various cracks in the trim and deformation around the screw holes. Turboplus was granted multiple Supplemental Type Certificates to upgrade many Continental TSIO-360 and LTSIO-360 engines to the 220HP operating limits of the Continental TSIO-360KB engine. Production of both the 180 and 250 ended after the 1964 model year. A major problem with older aircraft is the condition of the interior plastic trim. Flap / Aileron Gap Seal Kit. Ive owned my 1961 PA24-250 N7754P for six years, and the airframe has 2200 hours total and the engine has 980 hours since factory reman. In its basic form, a single G5 attitude indicator can be installed as primary. Unless otherwise noted, these reviews carry product pricing from the time of the original review. Insurance will vary with a pilots experience. The list price of the IFD550 is $21,999, but if you have a clean and fully functional Garmin GNS530W, you can cut that cost substantially. by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 9, 2022 | Comanche Restoration Series, Maintenance, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. Model 415 O200A Engine Upgrade STC SA2628WE . O.E.M. I was authorized to do anything I wanted to this airplane, under the inspection and authorization of my A&P/IA, Neil Humphreys, Piehl said. EVOLUTION MFD, some garmin and avidyne displays. [ag If you have aging fuel senders, expect to either have them overhauled or in many cases replaced with digital senders that may prove far more accurate than older analog senders. Most of my flight time is in single-engine Cessnas. You don't have to go wide open with it, typically in my Travelair I would lose 2-3kts and save 3gph while still running smooth. 24GS $879.54 Choose Options sku: 30RS Rudder Gap Seal Kit. In other words, our equipment had to talk with anything else installed in theairframe. Thats more than twice the rate we expect to see on retracts-and is cause for concern for a potential buyer. 1963 PIPER COMANCHE 250 . On November 24, 1959, Max Conrad landed a Piper Comanche equipped with a Lycoming four-cylinder 180-horsepower engine in El Paso, Texas. It's a pricey and time-consuming effort that many Belvoir Media Group, LLC. Total time 3505. by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 14, 2022 | Comanche Restoration Series, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. At first glance the Avidyne IFD navigator product line may seem confusing, but it doesnt have to be. Its a small panel; its wide but not tall. And I purchased six new Superior Millennium cylinders and pistons for the overhaul; I didnt want to use the originals, in fact I sold those off to an airboat shop in central Florida. Products from Knots2U andWebco are respected. Even heeding all of my advice, expect to spend money to acquire and keep an aging Comanche. These two models remained in production until 1964. Have a website login already? To many pilots, Piper's Twin Comanche represents an apex of light twin design. Single-box solution that works with Garmin GNS430W/530W navigators, works with a Wi-Fi module for connecting to tablets. I didnt really want to paint the engine all Lycoming gray, Piehl said. Diversity model (requires top and bottom antenna installation), requires WAAS GPS input, tablet interface requires Flight Stream wireless Bluetooth module, ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot app. Never created a website login before? For sure, the Comanches list of mods, modifiers and parts resources is long and best accessed from involvement with the ICS and its members and publications. Piper designed and built the aircraft from 1956 until 1972, when the manufacturing plant was wiped out by a massive flood and production ceased. But I can send you a color chip to match., So I matched it, and when looking at it, I thought, Darn, thats pretty much the color that I used on the airplane, lets just use the same paint! So I didnt have to invest in any engine paint., What Piehl means is that he used the same paint as the exterior in places on the engine that dont get overly hot. While Comanche engines are generally dependable, beware of top-end overhauls that were accomplished without replacing the cylinders with new ones. What makes this system our top pick for a high-end EFIS is the number of display options and the 500-plus approved model STC. While many Comanches sport three-blade propellers, some could have old clamp-style propellers. Bolt-On Horsepower. The basic airframe proved successful and wasnt changed much during its production run. The ICS also offers a technical support service when you and your mechanic need someone to talk to. Quotes in the photo captions are from Piehl. Range remains one of the Comanches strong points and many have been fitted with even more fuel capacity in tip tanks and fuselage tanks to give it impressive endurance. 795 Fentress Blvd youre down.. There would have been a happy ending, but he stalled the airplane on short final, over the runway, and stuck a wingtip into the ground. Its so tolerant of any heat that its not going to hurt it, so I used the same paint., Piehl also wanted to stress that this article is very abbreviated. Beautiful . If a stock Twin Comanche catches your eye, then get a . My performance improvements are way beyond anything I expected. Unlike the G3X Touch, the TXi displays have full TSO approval, plus the system is deeply compatible with analog third-party systems, including legacy autopilots. Call your Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), he said. Requires WAAS GPS input, tablet interface requires Flight Stream wireless Bluetooth module, Garmin Pilot or ForeFlight app. Theres also an AD on the vertical fin attachment (AD 75-12-06). SAVE Last Update: 04/10/2023 . I get approximately 200 feet per minute in climb increase and 15 knots in cruise. I would always recommend getting a pre-purchase inspection. Click here or above for a free download: Cherokee guide OR free digital issue. There were eight runway loss of control incidents, low, we think-and one of them involved a student pilot. After watching countless fuel injected flyers grind their starters into dust on the 100 degree tarmac down here in TX, I'm glad I have a carb and the mogas option. How can you improve the oil-change interval from 25 hours to 50 hours on a legacy Piper. Rocky Landsverk is the Editor and Publisher of the Piper Owner Society and PIPERS magazine. Sun n Fun 2023: Superior Custom Instrument Panels. This adds big to the installation effort and bottom line. We think the effort and cost is worth it given the added utility, including minimum callouts when on an approach. The 100-pound rise in gross gave the airplane a hefty 1427-pound useful load. At this point the ADS-B buy-in decision should be easy. contact us for horns, installation kits, horn installations in your Comanche, or The 1965 Comanches are transitionairplanes in that they have the earlier fuselage mated to the later 260-HP engine, albeit with a carburetor. Garmins GFC500 started life as an autopilot for experimental aircraft, but now has a sizable STC list for certified aircraft. Youll need a reliable unit for the long term. Belts: Replace / Upgrade; Piper; PA24/30/39 Comanche; PA24/30/39 Comanche FAA/TSO-C114 OEM quality AmSafe 3-point diagonal replacement restraints for PA24 & PA30 Comaches with existing factory installed shoulder harnesses, or a replacement for an STC installation. Engine Upgrades, What is possible. 3-blade Scimitar (260, 260B) 3-blade Scimitar . Both models had carbureted engines mated to constant-speed props. Products (www.aviationperformanceproducts.com), which claims that its Eagle XP cowling increases speed, economy and improves maintenance access. With the primitive indicating systems associated with many of the airplanes in the field, too often a pilot is faced with the dilemma, Now where did I put that fuel?. All were zinc-chromated during assembly, for corrosion protection. For more than five decades, active and dedicated aircraft owners and pilots have turned to AVIATION CONSUMER to answer their most important buying questions. We had requirements, in our MIL specs, that our avionics must communicate with the established protocols. That is because of a simple fact that anybody who has painted their house or restained their deck knows: Strip and prep are the most time-consuming part of the paint job, by Piper Owner Society | Jun 8, 2022 | Maintenance, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. After 34 years, the first flight of N6494P took place at Zephyrhills Airport, three days before leaving on a trip to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, just in time for AirVenture in July and August 2021. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Electronic Aircraft Ignition Electroair Review, How to Replace Your Piper Door Lock: Medeco Lock Review, Piper PA-24-250 Comanche Review: Restored Plane Flies for the First Time in 34 Years (Series Part 7, Finale), Reassembling a Restored Piper (Comanche Restoration Series Part 6), Rebuilding a Piper Engine in a Comanche (Comanche Restoration Series Part 5), Upgrading a Comanche Panel (Comanche Restoration Series Part 4), Restoring a Piper Interior (Comanche Restoration Series Part 3), How to Save Money When You Get Your Piper Repainted (Comanche Restoration Series Part 2), https://www.facebook.com/PiperOwnerSociety?fref=ts. You need to go to somebody whos trained in that model of aircraft but has not seen it before. -Scott Sherer, Fuel is going to be biggest expense. To round out the landing accidents, only one pilot couldnt get stopped on the available runway-well below what we expect to see in our accident reviews. Itll burn 8 to 10 GPH and cruise at 140 knots. Also featuring longtime pilot and electrical engineer Jim "Griff" Griffin, these advice videos feature tips from longtime pilot and CFI Mike Jones, avionics consultant Bob Hart, insurance and business expert Scott "Sky" Smith, and more. Garmin GMA 35c Remote-mount Bluetooth Audio Panel. Once off the ground, inflight handling is responsive and Comanche pilots will attest that its a delightful airplane to hand fly. In fact, the IFD100 app essentially adds a second IFD550 display/control set on the tablet. Four of those involved inflight breakups-the clean Comanche airframe will smoke through Vne in short order once the nose is down or in a diving spiral. L3 Avionics product sold by Aspen. Tuned through the IFD-series navigators. Which of the reductions is smaller is too hard to say, but the difference isn't going to be significant. It tends to be nose-heavy on landing so I use a lot of nose-up trim for an easier flare. by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 14, 2022 | Comanche Restoration Series, Piper Comanche 250, Piper Comanche 250 Reviews, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. Displays TIS-B, FIS-B ATAS (ADS-B Traffic Alerting System), includes Active Traffic (Interrogates Non-ADS-B Aircraft). wheaton] [CP Heres how to replace your Piper seat covers, which was one step in my Arrows long by Piper Owner Society | Dec 8, 2022 | Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. 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. So I sent the crankcase off to DivCo in Oklahoma City (www.divcoinc.com), the crankshaft to Rick Romans Inc. (Tulsa, Oklahoma), and Im fortunate enough that at my home airport, we have one of the finest engine facilities in the country Zephyr Aircraft Engines (Zephyrhills, Florida, www.zephyrengines.com).. There is no doubt that your kit was responsible for our taking second place in the race. Aside from the engine and prop, it involves the engine mounts, some baffling, controls and the exhaust system. For belt-and-suspender backup thats self-contained in the radio stack, we think Avidynes IFD550 navigator is a worth a look, especially if youre looking to step up and out of an aging Garmin GNS530. This time, he had an old Comanche panel to use as a framework for his new panel layout, along with a photo from a magazine ad. Engine Upgrades. However, the empty weight is also higher, by 337 pounds. I cannot remember what I read, and where I read it. Weve covered this system extensively, and most recently in the May 2019 Aviation Consumer where we installed one in a Piper Cherokee to see if it really was the worlds easiest ADS-B upgrade as the company claims. If the aircraft has traditional round gauges, do you want to get rid of the vacuum system in favor of an all-electric suite? For comparison, an American. Arch-Warrior, Inc. offers an STC to covert a Warrior to 180 HP. The original airplane had a 60-gallon fuel system. Piper Lycoming IO-540-K1G5 Engine Upgrade STC The Piper Lycoming IO-540-K1G5 engine upgrade STC removes and replaces the OEM installed Lycoming IO-540-K1G5D that was certified on the Piper Lance, Lance II, and Saratoga SP model aircraft. SKYTRONICS IGNITION HARNESSES, CHAMPION PRODUCTS, LP PLASTICS, WHELEN LIGHTING. Power Flow Systems offers its exhaust mod for the Aviat Husky, Cessna 170, 172, 175, 177 and 177RG, Diamond Star, Beech 19 and 23 series, Grumman Americans and four-cylinder Maules, among others. of our High Performance Propellers, Knots Piper Comanche. Same as the FDL-978-RX, but with a built-in GPS. These and later Comanches can be spotted by the extra cabin window and rear baggage door on the left side, which doubles as an emergency exit. Greg Piehl, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with his wife Debbie, spent three years by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 13, 2022 | Comanche Restoration Series, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. Email: darren@powerflowsystems.com, Address: ((navigator.appName == "Microsoft Internet Explorer") && (((navigator.appName == "Netscape") && A competent tech can generally rig a cabin door in an afternoon. This rebuilding a Piper engine article is from Greg Piehl, who lives in St. by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 9, 2022 | Avionics, Comanche Restoration Series, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0, by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 9, 2022 | Comanche Restoration Series, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. The Comanche panel has limited space, vertically, Piehl said. (620) 782-3317, Robert Williams. Very clean west cost Comanche. Even if youre not qualified to paint your plane yourself, you can still do most of the work. For instance, its possible to retrofit (via STC) the Lycoming O-540 engine into a Comanche 180 of 1960 or later vintage; theres at least one published report of this being done on an FAA Form 337, although we dont know of any shops offering the mod without doing the full-up STC. Tied with 12 events in which the pilot could not extend the gear due to maintenance issues, it is our opinion that a potential Comanche buyer put attention to the landing gear system high on his or her checklist for ownership. PA-NAC1P: Option: Nacelle Panels 27-4426, 27-4574 On 64-81: PA-NP2S: Option: Nose Panels Aztec Six Place No Ice PA-NP2P: Option: Nose Panels Aztec Six Place No Ice PA-NP3S: Option: Nose Panels Aztec Six Place Ice Shields PA-NP3P: Option: Nose Panels Aztec Six Place Ice Shields PA-FD1W: Option: Fuel Doors Winged Theres good reason to consider going vac-less. It had never lifted off that easily beforeI am now climbing faster with a solid feel to the controls and the ride. ON AND UNDERSTAND AUSTRALIAN HORN COMPRISES, Please Lets begin with an ADS-B wrap-up. Find your Customer Number (its on your mailing label) and register here. PA24-260( ) Comanche. Still, these speeds trail contemporary designs of similar vintage and power, such as the P35 Bonanza. Ive seen some IAs do the six-cylinder engine conversion and sign it off with a logbook entry. Dont underestimate the learning curve that tags along with a new suite, especially if it includes a new-to-you GPS navigator. "Piper manufactured the Comanche line as their first all-metal airplane. These days, major avionics upgrades include sourcing a new instrument panel to accommodate large flight displays. And it's fun to recall some Piper engineers, back when it was introduced, boasting that the fat, new, stubby wing was actually every bit as good as the sexier-looking tapered Comanche wing, aerodynamically. A complex light twin, with retractable landing gear, seating 4 (in original models) to 6 (in later models), and cruise speeds ranging from 160-210 mph on twin 150-160 horsepower engines, it competed with the more-powerful Cessna 310 and Beech Baron . Piper PA-46. CONTINENTAL, I wanted to do something like I saw in the EAA Museum, where they have a display of every aircraft engine ever built, on stands. Posted by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 9, 2022 | Avionics, Comanche Restoration Series, Upgrade & Refurbish. The airframe dimensions are identical, but the internal fuselage structure was changed to accommodate the additional window. Theres plenty of instrument panel real estate to pretty much do whatever you can afford. It put the Comanches on the map. The 180 and 250 Comanche airframes are the same and theres an STC to upgrade the 180 to the larger engine-although the 250 boasted a significantly higher gross weight: 2800 pounds versus 2550 pounds for the 180. Your Garmin dealers most likely top recommendation for a lower-end EFIS upgrade might be Garmins $2249 G5 display, of which there are two. For dual installations (maybe an IFD550 and IFD440), the connections are independent for redundancy, but have full synchronization. The early panel layout doesnt conform to the later standard T configuration, so it may be unfamiliar to recently trained pilots or those coming from more modern rides. Sure, the Piper PA-24 series is old-one of Pipers first metal, non-tailwheel cruisers-and ultimately a competitor to the Beech Bonanza and Cessna 210. Kudos to them-we think every retrac pilot should witness a gear swing on the appropriate model. You can modify its engine, its look, its handling, its panel and its features. They all seem to run somewhat rough when you get all cylinders LOP. Now is a good time to invest, but dont let lower prices fool you into thinking even a basic upgrade will be inexpensive. Greg Piehl, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with his wife Debbie, spent three years restoring and upgrading their 1959 Piper Comanche 250. My engine is carbureted. Legroom is good for both pilots and passengers, and the cabin is definitely more spacious than the Arrow that followed. The 180 came with a carbureted 180-horsepower Lycoming O-360 engine, had a 140-kt cruise speed, and went out the door for $18,000 or so. So to help sort it out, in this article well offer an around-the-bases look at the most popular new avionics configurations-from entry-level (for basic aircraft) to higher-budget (for go-places higher-end machines). In 1966, the Comanche B, with a fuel-injected 260-HP Lycoming IO-540-D4A5, a boosted gross weight (now 3100 pounds) and two more seats, was added to the lineup, starting with serial number 24-4300. Piper Comanche PA-24 Models. Subsequent Comanche models both single- and twin-engine were built until 1972. Many carb engines will happily run LOP too. Some of the engine parts were sent around the country, reconditioned, and sent back to Florida, where Piehl worked on it. WE LIKE, OWN, Early in my career, I was an avionics engineer in military electronics for a major contractor, Piehl said. Cowlings are also offered by Aviation Performance. The old boys that I learned to fly with would say that if you can shut the door on whatever you got into a Comanche, it would fly away without a problem. Their excellent build quality with total corrosion proofing before assembly and compound curve panels meant that the underlying cost structure was greater than emerging designs from either Piper or its competitors. Also note that this engine has some really cool colors. Its one of our top picks for a retrofit big-screen engine display. Everything Laminar Flow Systems makes has integrity, a design philosophy which puts the pilot 1st! The Rajay system essentially had a second throttle wastegate control the pilot used to manually set boost at altitude. We have 24 PIPER COMANCHE SERIES Aircraft For Sale. I guess that explains why I have had the same plane for 30 years! If not, the selling price should be adjusted to reflect a cost of $1500 per bladder. The G5 has an STC that currently covers 560 aircraft models-a huge swath. A worn-out fuel cap assembly has a compromised seal around the fuel inlet and could leak fuel in flight or allow water intrusion from a hefty rainstorm into the fuel tank. The panel is what one would expect from a circa-1960s airplane, with good space for instruments but early, unrestored models will look dated by modern standards. Piper then skipped directly to the 400 HP PA-24-400 in . Theres also Knots2U (www.knots2u.net, 262-763-5100) that has, in addition to the wing fillet mod, a dorsal fin kit, speedbrakes and a variety of other mods for Comanches. Comanche PA-24 Models. General Tiger with fixed gear goes just as fast and another contemporary retractable, the Mooney M20C or M20E, will outrun the 180. Ya need to explore the "experimental" side of aviation Greetings fellow fliers and the A&P's that keep us flying. Read a Piper door lock review with photos of a Medeco door lock installation. Just mows through turbulence, unlike my t-wagging Bonanza. Depending on the model and mods, it seems like a Comanche can have a never-ending supply of fuel tanks. Twelve pilots simply forgot to extend the Firestones before ground contact. 30RS $399.40 Add to Cart sku: 24RS Rudder Gap Seal Kit. If so, does the products STC include removing the vacuum system? Coming next month: Engine, prop, and motor mount. Some go as far as installing a smaller nosewheel tire and others simply pump up the main gear oleos to reduce the static angle of attack on takeoff. Pilots who dont understand the undercarriage and its various procedures, particularly the emergency extension procedure, also are a source of problems. Piper Comanche PA-24-400, PA-30, PA-39 Models. While we were pleased to find that the old wives tales regarding Comanche landings were untrue, we were concerned by the number of landing gear-related incidents.