Piper PA-28 Cherokee

At the time of the Cherokee's introduction, Piper's primary single-engined, all-metal aircraft was the Piper PA-24 Comanche, a larger, faster aircraft with retractable landing gear and a constant-speed propeller. Karl Bergey, Fred Weick and John Thorp designed the Cherokee as a less expensive alternative to the Comanche, with lower manufacturing and parts costs to compete with the Cessna 172, although some later Cherokees also featured retractable gear and constant-speed propellers. The Cherokee and Comanche lines continued in parallel production, serving different market segments for over a decade, until Comanche production was ended in 1972, to be replaced by the Piper PA-32R family. Piper continued to expand the line rapidly. In 1963, the company introduced the even more powerful Cherokee 235 (PA-28-235), which competed favorably with the Cessna 182 Skylane for load-carrying capability. The Cherokee 235 featured a Lycoming O-540 engine de-rated to and a longer wing which would eventually be used for the Cherokee Six. It included tip tanks of capacity each, bringing the total fuel capacity of the Cherokee 235 to . In 1964, the company filled in the bottom end of the line with the Cherokee (PA-28-140), which was designed for training and initially shipped with only two seats. At the time the Arrow was introduced, Piper removed the Cherokee 150 and Cherokee 160 from production. The Arrow II came out in 1972, featuring a fuselage stretch to increase legroom for the rear-seat passengers. In 1977, Piper upgraded the Warrior to PA-28-161, changing its name to Cherokee Warrior II. This aircraft had slightly improved aerodynamic wheel fairings introduced in 1978. Later models of the Warrior II, manufactured after July 1982, incorporated a gross weight increase to , giving a useful load over . This same aircraft, now available with a glass cockpit, was available as the Warrior III and was marketed as a training aircraft. PA-32 In 1965, Piper developed the Piper Cherokee Six, designated the PA-32, by stretching the PA-28 design. It features a lengthened fuselage and seating for one pilot and five passengers. Brazilian, Argentine and Chilean production PA-28s were built under license in Brazil as the Embraer EMB-711A and EMB-711C Corisco (PA-28R-200), EMB-711B (PA-28R-201), EMB-711T (PA-28RT-201) and EMB-711ST Corisco Turbo (PA-28RT-201T) and the EMB-712 Tupi (PA-28-181). Chincul SACAIFI of San Juan, Argentina produced the type in Argentina, building 960 airplanes between 1972 and 1995, including the Cherokee Archer, Dakota, Arrow and Turbo Arrow. The PA-28-236 Dakota was also assembled under license by the Maintenance Wing of the Chilean Air Force (later reorganised as ENAER). By September 1982, 20 Dakotas had been assembled in Chile. Piper aircraft variants The original Piper Aircraft company declared bankruptcy in 1991. In 1995, the New Piper Aircraft company was created. It was renamed Piper Aircraft once again in 2006. The company originally produced one variant, the 180-horsepower (134 kW) Archer LX (PA-28-181), and began testing two diesel versions, with 135 and 155 hp. As of 2022, five variants of the PA-28 were in production: • Archer TX and LX with a Lycoming IO-360-A4M engine, a TAS maximum cruise speed, range and a Garmin G1000 avionics suite • Archer DX and DLX with a Continental CD-155 engine, a TAS maximum cruise speed, range and a Garmin G1000 avionics suite • Pilot 100i with a Lycoming IO-360-B4A engine, a TAS maximum cruise speed, range and Garmin G3X avionics. ==Design==

Wing Originally, all Cherokees had a constant-chord, rectangular planform wing, popularly called the "Hershey Bar" wing because of its resemblance to the convex, rectangular chocolate bar. Beginning with the Warrior in 1974, Piper switched to a semi-tapered wing with the NACA 652-415 profile and a wingspan. The constant chord is maintained from the root to mid-wing, at which point a tapered section sweeping backwards on the leading edge continues until the tip. Both Cherokee wing variants have an angled wing root; i.e., the wing chord is greater at the root, with the leading edge swept back as it leaves the fuselage body, rather than the wing meeting the body at a perpendicular angle. Debate is ongoing about the relative benefits of the two wing shapes. According to the Cherokee's lead designer, Fred Weick, the semi-tapered wing was introduced to "improve stall characteristics and increase wingspan," and side-by-side testing of the two shapes found that with the semitapered wing, "the plane had better climb and flatter flight characteristics" The original 1974 version of the wing had a structural weakness that caused a structural failure during an aerobatic maneuver, but that was fixed for all later wings. According to Terry Lee Rogers (summarizing interviews with Weick), "the outboard wing sections had a different taper than the wing root, which permitted them to retain control even when the inboard sections were stalled." Aviation journalist Peter Garrison also favors the Hershey-bar wing, saying that the semitapered shape has a neutral effect on drag: "to prevent tip stall, designers have resorted to providing the outboard portions of tapered wings with more cambered airfoil sections, drooped or enlarged leading edges, fixed or automatic leading edge slots or slats and most commonly, wing twist or 'washout'. The trouble with these fixes is that they all increase the drag, cancelling whatever benefit the tapered wing was supposed to deliver in the first place." In the cockpit, all Cherokees use control yokes rather than sticks, together with rudder pedals. The pilot operates the flaps manually using a Johnson bar located between the front seats: for zero degrees, the lever is flat against the floor and is pulled up to select the detent positions of 10, 25, and 40°. Older Cherokees use an overhead crank for stabilator trim (correctly called an antiservo tab), while later ones use a trim wheel on the floor between the front seats, immediately behind the flap bar. All Cherokees have a brake lever under the pilot side of the instrument panel. Differential toe brakes on the rudder pedals were an optional add-on for earlier Cherokees and became standard with later models. Some earlier Cherokees used control knobs for the throttle, mixture, and propeller advance (where applicable), while later Cherokees use a collection of two or three control levers in a throttle quadrant. Cherokees normally include a rudder trim knob, which actually controls a set of springs acting on the rudder pedals rather than an external trim tab on the rudder—in other words, the surface is trimmed by control tension rather than aerodynamically. ==Variants==

"Hershey Bar" PA-28 Early PA-28 variants featured a distinctive constand-chord wing, which is often referred to as the "Hershey Bar" wing. Aircraft of the original four-place Cherokee line consisted of three primary variants; the PA-28-150, PA-28-160, and PA-28-180. The PA-28-150 and PA-28-160 are respectively powered by and versions of the Lycoming O-320 engine, while the PA-28-180 is powered by the Lycoming O-360 engine. The PA-160 was certified first with a gross weight of on October 31, 1960. This was followed by the PA-28-150 with a gross weight of on June 2, 1961. The PA-28-180 was certified with a gross weight of on August 3, 1962. Built in the following variants: :*PA-28-235 Cherokee, initial version. The second Cherokee prototype was converted to the prototype of this variant in 1962 by fitting a Lycoming O-540-B2B5 engine. Not including the prototype, a total of 719 aircraft were built; 584 (1964) and 135 (1965). One PA-28-235 was fitted with a Franklin engine for testing purposes in 1965. :*PA-28-235B Cherokee B, improved model with minor detail changes, including a lengthened spinner and an improved fuel system. The aircraft was fitted with a fixed-pitch propeller as standard, but optional constant-speed propeller was also available. Two prototypes were converted from PA-28-235s, followed by a production run of 320 aircraft; 121 (1966) and 199 (1967). :*PA-28-235C Cherokee C, improved model with a third window on each side, a new engine control console, and a redesigned interior. A total of 216 were built; 187 (1968) and 29 (1969). These production figures include a number of kits provided to Aero Mercantil in Colombia for completion. :*PA-28-235D Cherokee D, 1970 model with minor cosmetic changes. Two prototypes were converted from PA-28-235Cs and 78 production aircraft were built. This figure include a number of kits provided to Aero Mercantil in Colombia for completion. :*PA-28-235E Cherokee E, 1971 model with rear bench seat replaced by separate seats and improved soundproofing. Air conditioning was added as an option on this variant. A single prototype was converted from a PA-28-235D and 28 production aircraft were built. :*PA-28-235F Cherokee F, 1972 model with tail fillet, a new instrument panel, and other minor changes. A single prototype was converted from an older model and 23 production aircraft were built. :*PA-28-235 Cherokee Charger, 1973 model with a five-inch fuselage stretch, an enlarged all-moving tailplane, new seats, a padded instrument panel, a wider door, and powered by a Lycoming O-540-B4B5 engine. This variant was certified with a gross weight of on June 9, 1972. ; :Improved Warrior II certified with a gross weight of on July 1, 1994. ; :Four-place, fixed landing gear landplane, turbocharged Continental CD-155 diesel engine of . Introduced at AERO Friedrichshafen in April 2014. The compression-ignition engine is simpler to operate, avoiding starting difficulties, carburetor icing or propeller and mixture controls, and the liquid cooling does not suffer shock cooling in a rapid descent. The turbocharger maintains full power up to over to climbs at at , and cruise fuel flow is /h at 50 to 75% power and a IAS. The engine must be replaced every 2,100 hours. Produced in Archer DX trainer and Archer DLX personal aircraft variants as of 2026. ; :New versions introduced in 2019 intended as low cost VFR and IFR trainers respectively, for the flight training market. Fixed landing gear, 180 hp Lycoming IO-360-B4A, Garmin G3X Touch Certified avionics. IFR version includes GFC500 autopilot. Features the 2-side-window fuselage with the later tapered wing, no baggage door, no air conditioning, no instruments on right-hand panel, all-white paint with decals, two-place seating standard on 100, rear third seat with push-to-talk and Bluetooth functions standard on 100i and optional on 100. These new versions were type certified in the US in December 2020 and in Europe in August 2021. The Pilot 100i is still in production as of 2026. ; :Designation applied to PA-28s built by Chincul in Argentina from kits supplied by Piper. ==Operators==

The Cherokee series has been popular with private owners and flying clubs, with over 32,000 delivered. Military operators ; • FAPA/DAA ; • Argentine Coast Guard ; • Chilean Air Force ; • Indonesian Navy ; • Qatar Emiri Air Force Retired ; • Colombian Navy – Retired. ; • Finnish Air Force – 14 x Cherokee Arrow 200. Retired 2005. ==Notable accidents and incidents==

• September 9, 1969, Allegheny Airlines Flight 853, a Douglas DC-9-31, collided with a Piper PA-28R-180 Cruiser over Fairland, Indiana, killing all aboard both planes. • August 28, 1972, Prince William of Gloucester was killed along with the copilot of his Piper Cherokee Arrow after crashing shortly after takeoff from Halfpenny Green in Staffordshire, England, in an air race. • March 23, 1976, Mitsuyasu Maeno attempted to assassinate right-wing nationalist Yoshio Kodama by flying a Piper PA-28 into Kodama's house. Maeno died in the crash, but Kodama was unharmed. • November 16, 1984, a private PA-28 on a flight from Farmingdale Airport, crashed off the Atlantic City coastline, killing all four occupants. • August 31, 1986, Aeroméxico Flight 498, a Douglas DC-9-32, collided with a Piper PA-28-181 Archer, owned by William Kramer, over Cerritos, California, killing all 67 people aboard both planes and 15 people on the ground. It was the worst air disaster in the history of Los Angeles, and resulted in regulatory changes requiring all airliners to be equipped with a traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) and all light aircraft operating in terminal control areas to be equipped with a mode C transponder. • November 21, 1993, skydiver Alan Peters collided with the vertical stabilizer of a PA-28 while in freefall, after jumping from another aircraft. All four people aboard the PA-28 were killed after the plane lost control and crashed into a nearby forest. Peters was able to successfully open his parachute after the collision and survived, sustaining a fractured leg. • November 26, 1993, Piper PA-28-181 Archer was involved in a mid-air collision with an Aerospatiale TwinStar helicopter in Auckland, New Zealand, killing the sole occupant of the Piper and all 3 occupants of the helicopter. • February 18, 2010, Andrew Joseph Stack III deliberately flew his Piper PA-28-236 Dakota into Building 1 of the Echelon office complex in Austin, Texas, in an apparent revenge attack on the Internal Revenue Service office located there, Stack, the aircraft's sole occupant, was killed along with one person in the building, the IRS manager Vernon Hunter. • November 17, 2011, a PA-28-180 crash four miles south of Perryville, Arkansas, claimed the life of Oklahoma State University head women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant coach Miranda Serna, along with the pilot former Oklahoma State senator Olin Branstetter and another passenger. • On April 4, 2018, an Embry-Riddle student and his FAA examiner were killed when the left wing of their PA-28 (N106ER) separated as they flew west of Daytona Beach International Airport. The wing failed due to metal fatigue in the wing spar. An ERAU spokesman subsequently said that the university had stopped flying the PA-28. • On May 27, 2019, Brazilian singer Gabriel Diniz was killed in the crash of a Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee Archer in Estância, Brazil. • On August 25, 2019, award-winning music composer Jonathan Goldstein, his musician wife Hannah and their baby daughter were killed in the crash of a Piper PA-28 Arrow. They were flying from Switzerland to Italy when their aircraft crashed above the pass near the Italian border. ==Specifications (1964 model PA-28-140 Cherokee 140)==

==Notable appearances in media==