Cherokee 6

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)

Ahem. That honor is held by the Pathfinder...

;-)

Great primer on Cherokees, Ray. You covered all the gotchas on the Six, and
hit some of the generic Cherokee "watch-outs", too.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Yeah, thanks. I tried to get some insurance quotes today, but the world was
closed. Should get 'em back tomorrow. I did get one quote back. $2500!! Ugh.
3 pilots. I'm 640 TT, Commercial, IFR, CFII. I've got 5 hours in
Saratoga/Six. Other 2 are PP, IFR. One is 260 TT the other 360 TT. No Six
time for either.
Checkout & IPC for me. 5 hours dual & IPCs for the other 2 guys.

Still seemed kinda high. A quote from AOPA for just me was $1500. Am I off
base here?


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Fs1lj.45515$Ux2.10012@attbi_s22...
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)

Ahem. That honor is held by the Pathfinder...

;-)

Great primer on Cherokees, Ray. You covered all the gotchas on the Six,
and
hit some of the generic Cherokee "watch-outs", too.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Insurance companies always write the policy based on the lowest
qualified pilot in the list. The rate will be based on the 260TT
PP/IR with no 6 time.

On Mon, 21 Jan 2008 17:40:15 -0600, "Steven Barnes"
wrote:

Yeah, thanks. I tried to get some insurance quotes today, but the world was
closed. Should get 'em back tomorrow. I did get one quote back. $2500!! Ugh.
3 pilots. I'm 640 TT, Commercial, IFR, CFII. I've got 5 hours in
Saratoga/Six. Other 2 are PP, IFR. One is 260 TT the other 360 TT. No Six
time for either.
Checkout & IPC for me. 5 hours dual & IPCs for the other 2 guys.

Still seemed kinda high. A quote from AOPA for just me was $1500. Am I off
base here?


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:Fs1lj.45515$Ux2.10012@attbi_s22...
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)

Ahem. That honor is held by the Pathfinder...

;-)

Great primer on Cherokees, Ray. You covered all the gotchas on the Six,
and
hit some of the generic Cherokee "watch-outs", too.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:6Cxkj.43350$Ux2.28861@attbi_s22...
Look for a Pathfinder. Same engine and airframe as the Dakota, much lower
price.


Not that Jay's prejudiced or anything....

--
Doug
"Where am I to go/Now that I've gone too far?" -- Golden Earring, "Twilight
Zone"
(my email is spam-proofed; read the address and make the appropriate change
to contact me)

"Douglas Paterson" wrote ...
"Jay Honeck" wrote ...
Look for a Pathfinder. Same engine and airframe as the Dakota, much
lower price.


Not that Jay's prejudiced or anything....

Did the 235 also get the airframe stretch for better rear seat legroom? And
if so, which year?

Mike Isaksen wrote:

Did the 235 also get the airframe stretch for better rear seat legroom? And
if so, which year?

Yes. It got the fuselage stretch, wingspan stretch and larger stabilator
in '73. Same year as the 180 hp models. Piper called it the Charger in '73,
then switched to the Pathfinder name from '74 through '78. Though the name
changed, it was basically the same plane until the '79 taper-wing Dakota.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

The PA32 is stretched even more... :-)

The extra leg room was definitely needed in our '64 180. It also needed
widening a bit. That's why we were looking at 182s or Sixes. We're having a
pre-buy done on the Six we looked at last weekend. If all goes well, I may
be broke again in a few weeks....

"JGalban via AviationKB.com" u32749@uwe wrote in message
news:7eb4e0be14ab1@uwe...
Mike Isaksen wrote:

Did the 235 also get the airframe stretch for better rear seat legroom?
And
if so, which year?

Yes. It got the fuselage stretch, wingspan stretch and larger
stabilator
in '73. Same year as the 180 hp models. Piper called it the Charger in
'73,
then switched to the Pathfinder name from '74 through '78. Though the
name
changed, it was basically the same plane until the '79 taper-wing Dakota.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

--
Message posted via http://www.aviationkb.com

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

Originally Posted by Ray Andraka

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.

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