Piper PA-24 Comanche
 Piper PA-24 Comanche. Photo: Alan Radecki Akradecki, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
| |
| Make | Piper |
|---|---|
| Model | Piper PA-24 Comanche |
| Type | Civil utility aircraft |
| Country |  United States
|
| First flight | May 24, 1956 |
| Built | 1957-1972 |
| Number built | 4,857 |
| Registered in the US | 2,392 (FAA register, October 30, 2026) |
| Seats | 1, 3–5 passengers |
| Engine | Lycoming IO-540, 260 hp |
| Cruise speed | 185 mph (PA-24-260C) |
| Range | 1,225 mi (PA-24-260C) |
| Service ceiling | 19,500 ft (PA-24-260C) |
| Max weight | 3,200 lb (PA-24-260C)
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The Piper PA-24 Comanche is a four- to six-seat, single-engine, low-wing, all-metal airplane with retractable tricycle landing gear. Piper designed and built it, and it first flew on May 24, 1956. With the PA-30 and PA-39 Twin Comanche it was the core of Piper's lineup until 1972, when the 1972 Lock Haven flood destroyed the production lines.[1] In the U.S. there are 2,392 with a valid registration.[2]
History
Two prototypes were built in 1956. The first production Comanche, with a 180 hp Lycoming O-360, flew on October 21, 1957. It had a swept tail, a laminar-flow wing and an all-flying stabilator, and cruised at 116 to 139 knots.[1]
In 1958 the 250 hp PA-24-250 joined it (first meant to be called the PA-26), followed by the 400 hp PA-24-400 in 1964. In 1965 the 260 hp PA-24-260 replaced the 250, and a turbocharged version came in 1970.[1] The PA-24-250 is the most common Comanche on the U.S. register today.[2]
Record flights
In June 1959 Max Conrad flew a Comanche 250, its seats replaced by fuel tanks, nonstop from Casablanca, Morocco, to Los Angeles, 7,668 miles, setting a distance record for its weight class. The airplane is now in the museum at the Liberal, Kansas, airport.[1]
Registered in the United States
The FAA register lists 2,392 of these airplanes with a valid U.S. registration. Here they are by the model name the FAA uses.[2]
| FAA model name | Registered |
|---|---|
| PA-24-250 | 1,200 |
| PA-24-260 | 582 |
| PA-24 | 341 |
| PA-24-180 | 195 |
| PA-24-400 | 74 |
Specifications (PA-24-260C)
| Item | PA-24-260C |
|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
| Passengers / capacity | 3–5 passengers |
| Length | 25 ft |
| Wingspan | 36 ft |
| Height | 7 ft 6 in |
| Wing area | 178 sq ft |
| Empty weight | 1,773 lb |
| Maximum takeoff weight | 3,200 lb |
| Fuel | 60 USgal normal, additional 30 USgal in optional auxiliary tanks |
| Engine | Lycoming IO-540, 260 hp (air-cooled six-cylinder horizontally-opposed engine) |
| Propeller | Hartzell HC82XK1D metal constant-speed propeller |
| Maximum speed | 195 mph |
| Cruise speed | 185 mph |
| Never-exceed speed | 227 mph |
| Range | 1,225 mi |
| Service ceiling | 19,500 ft |
| Rate of climb | 1,320 ft/min |
Figures as given in the Wikipedia article and its sources.[1]
Photos
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Piper PA-24 260B Comanche Vue profil gauche. Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Pyrame assumed (based on copyrigh, Public domain -
Piper PA-24 260B Comanche Instrumentation. Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Pyrame assumed (based on copyrigh, Public domain -
Piper PA-24 Comanche. Photo: Ahunt at English Wikipedia, Public domain -
Piper PA-24-260. Photo: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
1959 Piper PA-24 180. Photo: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
Piper PA-24 Comanche. Photo: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
Piper PA-24 Comanche 400 N8515P c/n 26-52 at the 1966 Hanover Air Show. Photo: RuthAS, CC BY 3.0 -
Only known picture of Comanche PA33 on ground. Photo: Drgitlow at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; click a photo for its full credit and license.
Buying a Piper PA-24 Comanche
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Wikipedia, "Piper PA-24 Comanche", read November 1, 2026. Airplane Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Federal Aviation Administration, Releasable Aircraft Database, file dated October 30, 2026. Valid registrations of fixed-wing airplanes whose FAA maker and model names belong to this family. Airplane Wiki uses only counts from this file, never owner names or addresses.