We've made an offer & they've accepted. Hopefully, we'll get her this
weekend or early next week.

"JOM" wrote in message
...

Ray does give a good overview of the Six. I purchased a Six a couple of
months ago, and I really like this plane. Very solid to fly. It does
have a long nose, but as a taildragger pilot I didn't think it was too
bad on the forward visibilty. It will really haul a load, but the 260
isn't a real short field machine when you're heavy.

You can go to: http://bomar.biz/download.php and download a POH if you
want to look over the numbers. This is a great site and you don't have
to register to download and there is no fee either.

It's not terribly fast, but with tip tanks and throttled back some,
you've got a lot of range with the 84 gallons of fuel.

John


Ray Andraka;594982 Wrote:
I have owned a 1965 PA32-260 since Feb 1996. It is a fairly simple plane

from a maintenance standpoint, basically a warrior on steroids. There

are only a few repetive AD's, which include the fuel drain (50hrs), the

fuel drain cover assembly (100hrs) (both of those are owner inspect
items, just a nuisance to keep up with), rear seat retention, which is

annual, and the old style bowtie yokes have a 100 hour inspection for
cracks, and the older style landing gear links have a 500 hour dye
penetrant inspection for cracks. Check to make sure the other ADs are

all complied with (there isn't anything onerous there), most of them
are
old AD's from the 60's and 70's and should have been complied with a
long time ago.

The expensive problems are related to corrosion. Check the "hat
section
rails" on the belly, especially where they join the belly skin for
corrosion. The insides are generally not painted and if moisture or
exhaust get in there it can be an expensive repair, also check the
belly
skins for corrosion. Most likely along the exhaust trail and around
the
door step attach point. I wouldn't buy a Six or a PA-28 without a
recent service bulletin SB1006, which is an inspection of the wing
spars for corrosion. It involves pulling out the wing tanks,
inspecting
and treating the spar, replacing fuel and fuel vent lines and putting
it
all back together. Very few have corrosion, but when you do get it
there, it means replacing or rebuilding the wings. There is also a
service bulletin for checking the rear spar attach points (dissimilar
metal) for corrosion. While you are in there, pull back the interior
and look below the windows for corrosion caused by leaking windows.
There is also a service bulletin for periodic checks of the stabilator

attach point for corrosion (again dissimilar metals). Make sure the
fuel valve drain exceeds the margins allowed by the fuel drain AD be a

good margin. If it fails that AD, the fuel valve has to be replaced,
and that is expensive (5 AMU's). For an older six, check the condition

of the fiberglass tip tanks with attention for any delamination and
also
make sure the filler neck isn't pitted, as the there doesn't seem to be

many places to repair those tanks. The filler neck is a steel ring
bonded into the fiberglass. Other than that, there really isn't
anything that sticks out as a problem area.

The Six is a wonderful airplane, probably the best airplane piper ever

built (OK, I am biased). The fact is though, it is a load hauler
(mine's got a 1550lb useful load) built for cross country travel and
yet
it is economical enough at 14GPH to fly solo locally. Older ones have
a
higher useful load because they have less soundproofing and extra crap

stuffed into them. It will take a couple hours to get used to a six,
as
the long nose limits the foward and down view somewhat. The airplane
is
a different airplane when it is full vs when it is flown solo, so be
careful with flying with a full load.

The PA28's all have the same cabin width. The PA32 is some 11 inches
wider, which makes for some nice elbow room.




--
JOM