Piper PA-28 Cherokee

 Piper PA-28 Cherokee

Piper PA-28-180 Cherokee C. Photo: Mike Burdett, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Make	Piper
Model	Piper PA-28 Cherokee
Type	Civil utility aircraft
Country	United States
First flight	January 14, 1960
Built	1961–present
Number built	32,778+
Registered in the US	18,213 (FAA register, October 30, 2026)
Seats	one, three passengers
Engine	Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 hp
Cruise speed	108 kn (1964 model PA-28-140 Cherokee 140)
Range	465 nmi (1964 model PA-28-140 Cherokee 140)
Service ceiling	14,300 ft (1964 model PA-28-140 Cherokee 140)
Max weight	2,150 lb (1964 model PA-28-140 Cherokee 140)
More aircraft · For sale

The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of all-metal, low-wing, single-engine light airplanes with two or four seats, built by Piper Aircraft for flight training, air taxi and personal flying. It is the fourth most produced aircraft in history: the first PA-28 was certified by the FAA in 1960, and the series is still built today. In the United States it is the most common airplane family of all, with 18,213 valid registrations.

Over the years Piper sold it under many names: Cherokee, Warrior, Archer, Dakota, Arrow and more. Engines run from 140 to 300 hp, and some versions added turbocharging, retractable landing gear or constant-speed propellers. Every PA-28 has a single door on the right side, reached by stepping onto the wing.

History

When the Cherokee arrived, Piper's all-metal single was the larger, faster and costlier PA-24 Comanche. Karl Bergey, Fred Weick and John Thorp designed the Cherokee as a cheaper airplane to build and maintain, aimed squarely at the Cessna 172. The two Piper lines were built side by side for more than a decade, until the Comanche ended in 1972.

Production began in 1961 with the 150 and 160 hp Cherokees (the model number usually gives the horsepower). The PA-28-160 was certified first, on October 31, 1960. In 1962 came the 180 hp Cherokee 180 with a Lycoming O-360; the extra power made flying with four seats practical, and the model is still popular on the used market. Later additions included the simpler PA-28-140 trainer and the six-cylinder PA-28-235.

Piper stopped building the Archer in 2009, then put it back into production in 2010 under new ownership. As of 2026 five models were in production: the Archer TX and LX, the diesel Archer DX and DLX, and the Pilot 100i.

Two wings: "Hershey Bar" and tapered

Early Cherokees have a straight, constant-chord wing that owners call the "Hershey Bar" wing for its likeness to the chocolate bar. Starting with the Warrior in 1974, Piper switched to a semi-tapered wing 2 feet longer in span. Lead designer Fred Weick said the change was made to improve stall behavior and add span, and side-by-side tests found better climb with the new wing. The first 1974 version of the tapered wing had a structural weakness, fixed on all later wings.

The six-seat PA-32 Cherokee Six grew out of the PA-28.

Registered in the United States

The FAA register lists 18,213 of these airplanes with a valid U.S. registration. Here they are by the model name the FAA uses.

FAA model name	Registered
PA-28-140	4,157
PA-28-180	3,451
PA-28-181	3,429
PA-28-161	1,501
PA-28R-200	1,203
PA-28-151	940
PA-28-235	843
PA-28R-180	528
PA-28-236	476
PA-28R-201T	363
PA-28R-201	346
PA-28RT-201T	254
PA-28-160	247
PA-28RT-201	178
PA-28-150	120
PA-28	114
PA-28-201T	62
PA-28S-180	1

Specifications (1964 model PA-28-140 Cherokee 140)

Item	1964 model PA-28-140 Cherokee 140
Crew	one
Passengers / capacity	three passengers
Length	23 ft 3.6 in
Wingspan	30 ft
Height	7 ft 3.6 in
Wing area	160 sq ft
Empty weight	1,201 lb
Maximum takeoff weight	2,150 lb
Engine	Lycoming O-320-E2A, 150 hp (4-cylinder air-cooled horizontally-opposed piston engine)
Propeller	Sensenich M74DM
Maximum speed	123 kn
Cruise speed	108 kn
Stall speed	47 kn
Range	465 nmi
Service ceiling	14,300 ft
Rate of climb	660 ft/min

Figures as given in the Wikipedia article and its sources.

Owner and mechanic notes: coming soon. What to check before you buy, common problems and what they cost to fix. Airplane Wiki is gathering this from owners and mechanics.

Photos

• 
  Polly Vacher arrives at RIAT 2008 in her Piper PA-28-236 Dakota (G-FRGN). Photo: Adrian Pingstone (Arpingstone), Public domain
• 
  1964 Piper PA-28-180 on Floats. Photo: TimothyMN (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
• 
  PA-28-161 Warrior II flying in the livery of the Singapore Youth Flying Club (SYFC). Photo: Bonchygeez at English Wikipedia, Public domain
• 
  Argentine aircraft Piper Chincul PA-28 Arrow. Photo: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain
• 
  a nice piper on a nice day. Photo: Cory W. Watts from Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0
• 
  Piper PA-28 Cherokee. Photo: Rafael Luiz Canossa, CC BY-SA 2.0
• 
  Piper PA-28 Cherokee. Photo: Rafael Luiz Canossa, CC BY-SA 2.0
• 
  The cockpit of a Piper Aircraft Corporation PA-28-151 at Bristol Airport, England. Photo: Myself (Adrian Pingstone)., Public domain

All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; click a photo for its full credit and license.

Buying a Piper PA-28 Cherokee

For sale listings: coming soon. Airplane Wiki will list Piper PA-28 Cherokees for sale here, with the facts on this page beside every listing.