Having flown the Cardinal RG and the Pa-28R-200, (and liked both).. I
would lean towards the cardinal. You have much greater visibility out
the Cardinal (and can EASILY lean forward to put your head ahead of the
leading edge and visually clear above the wing)..

High wing gives you some rain protection on the ground loading and
unloading.. I used to live in Hawaii and remember afternoon showers
there regularly on the windward sides of the islands..

Large doors that open VERY wide make for easy boarding and loading, and
there are two of them.

Cardinal RG strikes me as just a tad faster/sleeker

Again.. we are having to choose between two very good and capable
airframes, but I favor the cardinal, even though I have much more time
in the Arrow.

Dave

wrote:
So I've decided to buy a plane (in July of 2007), and I've come to a
dilemma. I learned to fly on a Piper Arrow and very much like that
plane, though I haven't flown one in over a year, what I have been
flying is a Cessna Cardinal 177 RGII, very nice plane, great handling
and a pleasure to fly as well, I live in Hawai'i and shipping plays a
big part in inflating the value of planes here... Any plane I buy I
will be putting an AVIDYNE avionics twin LCD system into so I don't
care about the stock avionics packaged, hence my dilemma is as
follows...

I can either buy my flight clubs 177 for 50K (without avionics and a
high time engine (for 20K more the clubs mechanic will put a brand new
engine and prop on).

I can buy a Piper Arrow on the mainland and have it shipped to Hawai'i
for about 10K (from Cali), and refit that with the AVIDYNE system.

or...

I can buy a brand new Piper Arrow for a whopping 427,000 (with the
AVIDYINE and other options I can't get on the older planes stock). And
have peace of mind in a brand new plane that will last a long time
without incurring added maintenance expenses.

Whichever one I buy I will be doing a "lease-back" to the club to allow
other guys to fly it, with a small profit for me (mainly to pay for gas
and maintenance on the plane when I fly it)

Any advice is appreciated.