Information AboutPiper Cherokee |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT PIPER CHEROKEE | |
| piper aircraft | |
| u.s. civil utility aircraft 1960-1969 | |
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::''This article refers to Piper's PA-28 series of two- and four-seat aircraft. For the PA-32 six-seat series, see the Piper Cherokee Six article.'' Cherokee is the common name for the Piper's PA-28 family of Aircraft models, which received its type certificate from the FAA in 1960 and is still under production by The New Piper Aircraft Company . The Cherokee is an all-metal, unpressurized, four-seat, single-engine, Piston-powered plane with low Wing s and Tricycle Landing Gear ; its main competitors have been the Cessna 172 and the Beechcraft Musketeer . All Cherokees have a single door on the co-pilot side, which is entered by walking on the wing. The low-end Cherokees are popular Trainers . Piper has created many variations on the Cherokee by installing engines ranging from 140 to 235 Horsepower (105 to 175 kW), fixed or retractable landing gear, fixed-pitch or constant-speed Propeller s, and even Turbocharging . HISTORY At the time of the Cherokee's introduction, Piper's primary single-propeller, all-metal aircraft was the Piper PA-24 Comanche , a larger, faster aircraft with retractable landing gear and a constant-speed propeller. Karl Bergey, Fred Weick and John Thorp designed the Cherokee as a less expensive alternative to the Comanche, with lower manufacturing and parts costs (though some later Cherokees also featured retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller), to compete with the Cessna 172 . The Cherokee and Comanche lines continued in parallel production serving different market segments for over a decade, until Comanche production was ended in 1972, to be replaced by the Piper PA-32R Family . The original Cherokees were the Cherokee 150 and Cherokee 160 (PA-28-150 and PA-28-160), which started production in , the company introduced the even more powerful Cherokee 235 (PA-28-235), which competed favourably with the Cessna 182 for load-carrying capability; in 1964, the company filled in the bottom end of the line with the Cherokee 140 (PA-28-140), which was designed for training and typically shipped with only two seats at first. One common source of confusion is the fact that the PA-28-140 was slightly modified shortly after its introduction to produce 150 horsepower (112 kW), but kept the -140 name. Piper also produced a Cherokee 6 which featured a stretched fuselage and seating for one pilot and five passengers. In 1967 , Piper introduced the PA-28R-180 Cherokee Arrow. This aircraft featured a Constant-speed Propeller and retractable landing gear and was powered by a 180 horsepower (134 kW) Lycoming O-360 engine. The engine was upgraded to 200 horsepower (149 kW) in 1969 and the designation was changed to PA-28R-200. At the same time the Arrow was introduced Piper removed the Cherokee 150 and Cherokee 160 from production. In 1968 , the cockpit was modified to replace the "push-pull" style throttle with a more modern style with levers for the throttle and mixture. In 1971 , Piper released a Cherokee 140 variant called the ''Cherokee Cruiser 2+2''; although the plane kept the ''140'' designation, it was, in fact, a 150 horsepower plane (112 kW), and shipped mainly as a four-seat version. In 1973 , the Cherokee 180 was named the ''Cherokee Challenger'', and had its fuselage lengthened slightly and its wings widened, and the Cherokee 235 was named the ''Charger'' with similar airframe modifications. In 1974 , Piper fiddled with the names again, renaming the ''Cruiser 2+2'' (140) to simply ''Cruiser'', the ''Challenger'' to ''Archer'' (PA-28-181), and the ''Charger'' (235) to ''Pathfinder''. Piper also reintroduced the Cherokee 150 that year, renaming it the ''Cherokee Warrior'' (PA-28-151) and giving it the Archer's stretched body and a new, semitapered wing. In 1977 , Piper stopped producing the Cruiser (140) and Pathfinder (235), but introduced a new 235 horsepower (175 kW) plane, the ''Dakota'' (PA-28-236), based on the Cherokee 235, ''Charger,'' ''Pathfinder'' models but with the new semi-tapered wing. A 200 horsepower (149 kW) Turbo Dakota (PA-28-201T) briefly followed but did not sell well and soon stopped production. In 1978 , Piper upgraded the Warrior to 160 horsepower (119 kW) PA-28-161, changing its name to ''Warrior II''. The PA-28 was also built under licence in Brazil as the Embraer EMB-711 Corisco (PA-28R-200), EMB-711T Corisco Turbo (PA-28R-200T), and the EMB-712 Tupi (PA-28-181). The original version (PA-28R-200T). All are now available with Avidyne FlightMax Glass Cockpit s, like many new general aviation aircraft. WING DESIGN Originally, all Cherokees had a rectangular wing popularly called the ''Hershey Bar'' wing. Beginning with the Warrior in 1974, Piper switched to using a Tapered Wing with the NACA 652-415 profile. The two Cherokee wing designs are the source of a great deal of debate inside the Cherokee community. For example, some pilots claim that the "Hershey Bar" wing produces a more abrupt stall, with loss of Aileron effectiveness; this is unlikely, as a rectangular wing has a more favorable distribution of lift than a tapered wing. In reality, Washout (twisting the wing with a higher Angle Of Incidence at the root than at the tip) is more important than taper for stall control, and both wing types exhibit this twist. Likewise, some pilots claim that the semi-tapered wing reduces cruise speed; in fact, both the semi-tapered 160 horsepower Warrior II and the 180 horsepower Archer II have higher published cruise speeds than their straight-wing predecessors, the Cherokee 160 and Cherokee 180. It is important to note, however, that some of that difference is accounted for by other aerodynamic improvements, such as gap seals and better wheel fairings. FLIGHT CONTROLS AND FLAPS Piper used in the Cherokee family their traditional flight control configuration. The horizontal tail is a stabilator with an anti-servo tab. The anti-servo tab moves in the same direction of the stabilator movement, making pitch control "heavier" as the stabilator moves out of the trimmed position. The flaps are manually actuated using a lever located between the front seats. For zero degrees flap the lever is flat against the floor and is pulled up to select flaps to the detent positions of 10º, 25º and 40º. SPECIFICATIONS (PA-28-161 WARRIOR II, 1982- ) V Speeds Where a single speed appears, it is applicable to the aircraft at maximum gross weight (2440 lb/1107kg). Where a range appears, the lower speed is applicable at empty weight (1531 lb/694 kg) and the higher speed is applicable at maximum gross weight.
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