Air-to-Air Piper Arrow

If ya got one you don't want give it to me! It's a ****ing airplane, who cares what the tail looks like! :raspberry:

I just don’t care for their aesthetics. They are airplanes and they fly well but I’m not a fan of their looks.
 
I just don’t care for their aesthetics. They are airplanes and they fly well but I’m not a fan of their looks.

Well.... The performance charts bear out pretty clearly they are a gratuitous aerodynamic compromise in takeoff and landing for the sake of marketing that ended up not bearing out in sales. But they're not unsafe if said performance concession is baked in the way you operate the airplane. I'd be fine owning one, IF and only IF I got a steep discount (>15-20AMU) in price from that of an equivalent equipped straight model (in our case, looking at Lances of either variety). For the same dollar amount? No way.
 
Well.... The performance charts bear out pretty clearly they are a gratuitous aerodynamic compromise in takeoff and landing for the sake of marketing that ended up not bearing out in sales. But they're not unsafe if said performance concession is baked in the way you operate the airplane. I'd be fine owning one, IF and only IF I got a steep discount (>15-20AMU) in price from that of an equivalent equipped straight model (in our case, looking at Lances of either variety). For the same dollar amount? No way.
Be cautions in a short field takeoff on a t tail

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk
 
The performance charts bear out pretty clearly they are a gratuitous aerodynamic compromise in takeoff and landing for the sake of marketing that ended up not bearing out in sales.
The PA-28RT stabilator is 13% smaller in span and area than a low-tail Arrow’s, and during the takeoff roll it’s up out of the energized prop slipstream. It’s not very effective under about 75 KIAS. When the nose does come up, increasing the AOA, the tail goes down into the slipstream and it suddenly becomes much more effective. You’ll probably overcontrol it some on the first few takeoffs until you get the hang of what to expect.

Looking at all the aerodynamic gimmickry on the T-tail stabilator (slots, fences, fillets) I’m guessing Piper engineers had a heckuva time getting it to fly right.

The FBO where I rented in the early ‘90s had two PA-28RT-201Ts. The rental rate on them was about 20% less than the M20Ks, so I wound up with a couple hundred hours in them. They weren’t short-field airplanes; they seemed to wag their tails in turbulence more than most, and power management was a little funky, but they were comfortable with all four of us aboard and served well in some long trips in high country.
 
Great Photos!

the OP even took the time to wipe all oil, fuel stains & hydraulic fluids leaks off the underbelly! :p
 
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