Typo .................. Without Damage History ......... silly me :-)

--
Roy
Piper Archer N5804F

"Roy N5804F" wrote in message
nk.net...
Greg,

My understanding is that air conditioning takes away about 70 lbs of
useful load and many have removed it for weight and maintenance reasons.
I have been flying Archers for 7 years and bought my own Archer just two
years ago.
If useful load is important to you, then the earlier Archers from 1977/ 8
usually have between 970 and 1050lbs of useful load.
Later Archers from the 80's and right up to today have significantly less
useful load.
If you want a low time airframe and engine with panel mount GPS, recent
interior and paint job with damage history then get a check cut for at
least $85,000 ready and waiting.
I bought mine with a run-out engine and took it to 2250 SMOH before
installing, this year, a Superior Millennium Certified engine supplied by
Penn Yan.
That was an expensive option, but has the 5 year labor and parts warranty.
The avionics was original factory, KX170B's etc. In a couple of weeks all
that will head for eBay being replaced by a Garmin 530 stack.
Fixing the very minor squawks, that came with the bird, installing the
engine and new avionics will total about $50,000 and will only add about
$35,000 to the vRef value.
The interior and exterior are reasonable, but I will do the interior
before the year is out.
What this should tell you is that it is probably more cost efficient to
buy a bird with real low engine time and that has already has had its
avionics upgraded.
The advantage I have, is that I chose the engine and avionics rather than
had to have that which had been chosen by a previous owner.
I am sure you will find a suitable Archer and remember that usually you
only get what you pay for.
Make sure you have a very thorough pre-buy inspection by someone who
really knows PA28's.
Get a further $5,000 in loose change ready to fix bits that need fixing or
bits you don't like over the first few months of ownership.
The Archer is a good airplane and can happily take you out for a $100
hamburger or coast to coast albeit at a steady 115 knots on around 9GPH.
Enjoy the hunt !
--
Roy
Piper Archer N5804F




"Greg Copeland" wrote in message
news
Down south (Texas), is air conditioning worth consideration on something
with only 180hp? What type of HP and weight hit does it incur? Is it
worth it? I suspect it's a possible source of ongoing maintenance.
Should
it be considered or avoided at all costs? Does A/C add much to the cost
of annual? Impact gph in cruise?


Thanks,

Greg