Piper Cherokee Six / 6x / Saratoga

Everyone knows the very successful PA-28 Cherokee / Warrior / Archer / Dakota aircraft. Light efficient economical and fast back in 60`s it was the fixed gear aircraft everyone wanted. More than 33000 aircraft of this type have been produced and the recipe still hold as this aircraft is still on production till these lines are written. The finest example of that fixed gear series was the Cherokee 235 Dakota, equipped with Lycoming O-540 engine derated to 235 horsepower and longer wings, but then came the big question. Oh my god this aircraft is so powerful , but still slow and inefficient, who the heck can we make it more efficient? The answers were two A) Build it with retractable gear, so Piper 28 Arrow arrived B) Build it bigger, so Piper 32 Cherokee 6 arrived.

The Cherokee Six was in production until 2007 and more than 7800 aircraft were build. Equipped with the same engine as the Dakota sister, but rated to 260 and later to 300 hp (normal Saratoga )featuring a baggage compartment in the nose between the cockpit and the engine compartment as well as a large double door in the back for easier loading of passengers and cargo wanted to compete with the well known SUV`s of the skies Cessna 206 and Beechcraft Bonanza. Spacious and comfortable and quitter cabin could hold up to 7 people (6 normal+1 child or supermodel) in standard configuration or 6 sumo wrestlers in club configuration.

The next step of the evolution was turbocharging.300 hp was enough but the normally aspired engines disliked altitudes higherthan 10000ft, so the turbocharger was introduced at PA-32-301T Turbo Saratoga. Still 300 hp but higher service sealing and fuel injection, gave better efficiency. Fuel consumption is high though during cruse about 60 liters per hour (1 liter per minute). But this engine upgrade had a crucial drawback, the heavier engine didn`t came with a rise of Total Takeoff Weight which was 3400 pounds so the useful load was reduced dramatically making it a 6, or 5 seat aircraft.

Well from piper Six the prototype of Piper Seneca was created. Nonono, I hear you call out ‘’Faul they are totally different’’, well now. Seneca is an evolution of piper Six. The prototype was a 3 engine aircraft with Lycoming 360 engines but the correctly figured out that it was deemed to fail as concept due to immense running costs of the engines. So the nose mounted got deleted from the drawings and got 2 Lycoming IO-360-C1E6 with the stubborn engine turning counter clockwise. The counter-rotating engines eliminated the critical engine limitations of other light twins and made the aircraft more controllable in the event of a shut down or failure of either engine.

Also an RG (retractable Gear) was developed named Piper lance designated Piper PA-32R with standard the 300hp engine and optional the turbocharged Saratoga engine. It remained in production till 2009.

Well yeap, it is excellent. If you want a private aircraft to carry your family to your holidays this is the aircraft for you. 6 seats, stable platform, cheap to overhaul (2000 TBO) and maintain engine and very good IFR platform combined relatively good fuel efficiency give you the dream aircraft. Also used ones are relatively cheap to get your hands on. In my opinion the best off all versions is the early 260hp due to higher useful load and lower fuel cost, but if you want an IFR platform and don`t care about the fuel cost better opt for the Turbo Saratoga version (Same TBO!!!). I have flown the Turbo Saratoga and found it very good for its job, but also found it too thirsty for my style. Although it was a bad day to fly and had to climb fast over the mountains she performed brilliantly. Stable on unstable air although she needed a better autopilot because the Century IIB can`t cut the mustard nowdays. An upgrade to S-tec with Alt hold must be considered for trouble free IFR flights.