Looking at a 1979 Piper Lance PA32 T-tail. Never heard of this plane until now. They're asking $60,000. My uncle is the one looking at it. I guess he knows the guy selling it, but I'm the one with the pilot license. I definitely want to have a mechanic check out the plane and whatnot. You guys know anything about these planes? Also, where's a good place to find a mechanic in Virginia? I've never had my own plane, always rented.
1979 Piper Lance PA32 T-Tail?
- Thread starter jflyg
- Start date
R
Roger, Roger
Guest
The T-tails have a bit of a rep for being odd to handle in the landing flare. I know it's cousin, the PA32-300 fairly well (been wrenching on them for a year or so). They are good, reliable workhorse airplanes. Systems are dirt simple. Make sure you get it looked at by someone who knows Cherokees, they have a few spots that are pretty vulnerable to dissimilar metal corrosion that someone who doesn't know the plane might miss. If that bird has the IO540K1G5 that I think it does, that motor is as bulletproof as the Lycoming 6 cylinders get.
JOEFRIDAY2
Well-Known Member
The T-Tail lances are workhorses. A good solid plane with a great payload. I spent many hours flying one of these trucks doing check runs in the Carolinas. You'll do fine with it.
Joe
Joe
trafficinsight
Well-Known Member
Worked on one for a few years. It's a Cherokee but it doesn't really fly like any other Cherokee. It scared one inexperienced pilot so bad he ran it off the end of the runway aborting what would have been a normal takeoff because it didn't feel right to him. It'll do what the book says it'll do and it was a pretty good airplane, plenty of room, plenty of gas.
pilot4500
IT Architect/ Former Cirrus Charter Pilot
Did you happen to work for Ram Air Freight? I have a lot of time in the T-tail and conventional tail Lances. I worked for Ram Air for nearly four years before getting laid off. The T-tail Lance is a solid airplane, but make sure you get a feel for its takeoff and landing characteristics. The plane can get farily heavy on the controls at low speeds, so you do have to put some muscle into the landing flare.
JOEFRIDAY2
Well-Known Member
I was with Wheeler Air. Those were the days.
Joe
Joe