IMS, the problem with the Tomahawk was that some beancounters removed a few of the ribs in the wing after the initial design, rendering the wing insufficiently torsionally rigid. Basically (or so the theory goes), the wing would warp in a spin to the point that proper airflow couldn't be restored. This was (again, going on memory) pretty rapidly remedied by AD, but the damage to the reputation had been done. I span (spun?) a couple of T-hawks in my youth, and they pretty obviously didn't kill me
I believe the Tomahawk has a hard limit of 11,000 hours on the wing. At that point they literally need to be removed and replaced with younger wings. There is an STC that I
believe raises the number to 15,000.
While it sounds like a serious limit for a heavily used training aircraft, there are certainly other airplanes with the same type of limitations.
One thing that's interesting is everyone seems to think the Traumahawk is a spin killing monster, spins are prohibited, etc.... none of which is really true. Some interesting data from the AOPA article on spins:
The Piper PA-38 Tomahawk, designed specifically for flight instruction, including easier demonstration of spins, was involved in 50 stall/spin accidents from 1982 through 1990, for a rate of 3.28 per 100 aircraft in the fleet. During the same period, the Cessna 150/152 had 259 stall/spin accidents, for a rate of 1.31 per 100 aircraft, and the Beech 77 suffered only four such accidents, for a rate of 1.64 per 100 aircraft.
Tomahawks, therefore, were involved in roughly double the number of stall/spin accidents per 100 aircraft as the Cessna 150/152 or the Beech 77. These are raw numbers where the NTSB identified stall/spin as the primary causal factor.
An estimated 43 of the Tomahawk accidents occurred at a low altitude, where recovery, regardless of aircraft type, was unlikely. In many cases, the stall was the final event where an accident was already all-but-certain, such as buzzing, fuel exhaustion, or strong surface winds. In some cases, it was not clear from the narrative how high the aircraft was when the stall or spin began. ASF was able to identify nine PA-38 accidents in which the NTSB cited spin as a cause or a factor. The NTSB also coded one Beech 77 and 59 Cessna 150/1 52 accidents as spin-related. The accident narrative indicated that the aircraft was spinning. Bottom line - the Tomahawk is involved in proportionately more stall/spin accidents than comparable aircraft.
Does that make it unsafe? No, it only means that the PA38 must be flown precisely in accordance with the Pilot Operating Handbook and with instructors who are proficient in stalls and spin recovery in that aircraft ...
