685. Since its important that the flight controls are properly rigged (while ensuring the landing gear and landing gear doors are retracted fully and fit flush) this should be the first step before any aftermarket mods are installed. Piper Comanche PA-24 Models. While many Comanches sport three-blade propellers, some could have old clamp-style propellers. MSFPhover = 180-250-260-400- TWIN COMANCHES With a tapered laminar-flow wing, respectable speed (big-engine models make downright impressive numbers), solid handling and lots of available speed mods, the right Comanche could be one of the most desirable vintage piston singles. Its pretty much plug and play. On November 24, 1959, Max Conrad landed a Piper Comanche equipped with a Lycoming four-cylinder 180-horsepower engine in El Paso, Texas. Ive taken the course twice. Based on our time in Comanches, we say fly it like its meant to be flown, really, and youll wonder what the barroom chatter was all about. It's a pricey and time-consuming effort that many Belvoir Media Group, LLC. When temps drop to -40 or lower many carbs must use heat to raise temps up to where the fuel air ratio is rich enough, but that is still way to low for induction icing. The installation included dual Garmin G5 digital flight instruments, a PMA450 audio system, Garmin GTN 650 WAAS/GPS navigator and a GNC 255A VHF radio. No, its not complicated but a review of service difficulty reports (and the NTSB accident reports) indicates its a top sore spot, along with general airframe corrosion and engine/ prop issues. A few words on avionics projects. PA23-250 Aztec. I used the company Approach Fast Stack to build the wiring harness for the entire panel, he said. The plane is owned by Greg Piehl and his wife Deb. Not bothering with a preflight briefing, he took off and flew to his Plan B airport, where he learned, on Unicom, that it was closed. While offering good looks and good performance for the money, the Comanche 260 may be a handful for the first-time owner. Rare find! for the AUSTRALIAN STABILATOR HORN of our High Performance Propellers, Knots The trick-as it is with any older aircraft-is finding a shop or technician experienced in the type. Once off the ground, inflight handling is responsive and Comanche pilots will attest that its a delightful airplane to hand fly. Production of both the 180 and 250 ended after the 1964 model year. Models: 310P, 350P. [home] I see no one else other than Robin Thomas who makes a promise that if youre not satisfied, no questions asked, you get your money back. Bolt-On Horsepower. Daytona Beach, FL 32114. Throttle 1/8 mixture where you set for lean taxi, mags hot, hit the starter. How to paint interior plastic trim, step by step instructions with photos. This rebuilding a Piper engine article is from Greg Piehl, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with his wife Debbie, spent three years restoring and upgrading their 1959 Piper Comanche 250. Its also intended as an easy replacement for the S-TEC 55-series autopilot with minimal rewiring. I seem to remember reading something about carb heat being dangerous at cold temperatures, because it can warm intake air enough to get it into the icing temperature range. } has WAAS GPS, touchscreen, displays traffic and weather on some aspen, avidyne and garmin displays. Call Counter rotating with Tip Tanks, complete interior 2021, lots of upgrades and STC's. More Info. He's very difficult to contact but one CPA member reports successfully purchasing the STC in 2006. "COMANCHE". If you already have a healthy and modern transponder and you dont plan to fly high, Garmins GDL82 UAT solution sells for $1795-the second cheapest. And you cant do it with the mechanic whos already maintaining the airplane. Remote version of the AXP340. Expect overruns and long downtimes. Display compatibility with several third-party systems for ADS-B In, including Garmin GTX345, L3 Lynx 9000 Series, and FreeFlight RANGR UAT. Subsequent Comanche models both single- and twin-engine were built until 1972. First, weve worked on enough Comanches to say that the airplane is perhaps one of the best built all-metal singles of its time. Garmin GNC 255A Nav/Comm. This time, he had an old Comanche panel to use as a framework for his new panel layout, along with a photo from a magazine ad. For sure, the Comanches list of mods, modifiers and parts resources is long and best accessed from involvement with the ICS and its members and publications. In 1961, the gross weight of the 250 was boosted by 100 pounds. The result is essentially a Comanche 250 with a low gross weight. Because of that, I had to choose some remote-mounted components such as the transponder, the ADS-B system, and a second communication radio.. Last edited: Oct 6, 2013. Quotes in the photo captions are from Piehl. Diversity Mode S transponder with ADS-B Out when connected with an appropriate WAAS GPS. A side benefit of the standard turbo installation is that its quieter than the normally aspirated Comanche C. The -N1A5 engine, beefed up to handle the boost pressure and higher temperatures at altitude, is just as robust as the normally aspirated engine; both have a 2000-hour TBO. Piper Cherokee Modifications & SpeedImprovements, :uninterrupted flow in which the direction of flow. After 34 years, the first flight of N6494P took place at Zephyrhills Airport, three days before leaving on a trip to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, just in time for AirVenture in July and August 2021. What kind of paint do you use to repaint a Piper engine? I actually contacted them and asked them what color that is. Youll need a reliable unit for the long term. The good news is that lots of shops can work on them (although as the accident reports show, pick one that knows the model well), parts are available and market prices are steady, yet reasonable. AXP322 is remote version. Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Electronic Aircraft Ignition Electroair Review, How to Replace Your Piper Door Lock: Medeco Lock Review, Piper PA-24-250 Comanche Review: Restored Plane Flies for the First Time in 34 Years (Series Part 7, Finale), Reassembling a Restored Piper (Comanche Restoration Series Part 6), Rebuilding a Piper Engine in a Comanche (Comanche Restoration Series Part 5), Upgrading a Comanche Panel (Comanche Restoration Series Part 4), Restoring a Piper Interior (Comanche Restoration Series Part 3), How to Save Money When You Get Your Piper Repainted (Comanche Restoration Series Part 2), https://www.facebook.com/PiperOwnerSociety?fref=ts. Its a true traveling airplane and I flight plan for 157 knots when at full throttle. To ask questions and discuss these tips, visit our forum here. Just mows through turbulence, unlike my t-wagging Bonanza. Aircraft Panel Gallery. Email: darren@powerflowsystems.com, Address: And an airplane thats been all over the hangar floor for a month or longer-now with unfamiliar avionics-is a poor match for the nonproficient pilot. All were zinc-chromated during assembly, for corrosion protection. If not, the selling price should be adjusted to reflect a cost of $1500 per bladder. Everything Laminar Flow Systems makes has integrity, a design philosophy which puts the pilot 1st! New prop 50 hours. They build and 100% test the harness for installation. Check a copy of the Comanche Flyer magazine or the ICS website www.comancheflyers.com for examples. The Comanche 180 was introduced in 1957, and the PA-24-250, the 250 HP version, followed soon after in 1958. These days, major avionics upgrades include sourcing a new instrument panel to accommodate large flight displays. Any thoughts or ideas? contact us for horns, installation kits, horn installations in your Comanche, or rebuilds of your existing Piper factory horn/torque tube/balance weight tube assembly. Belts: Replace / Upgrade; Piper; PA24/30/39 Comanche; PA24/30/39 Comanche FAA/TSO-C114 OEM quality AmSafe 3-point diagonal replacement restraints for PA24 & PA30 Comaches with existing factory installed shoulder harnesses, or a replacement for an STC installation. Weve covered this system extensively, and most recently in the May 2019 Aviation Consumer where we installed one in a Piper Cherokee to see if it really was the worlds easiest ADS-B upgrade as the company claims. Laminar Flow Systems, Inc. has been manufacturing and selling these modifications since 1984 and we have thousands of satisfied customers worldwide. Mon-Fri:9:00am 5:30pm While we were pleased to find that the old wives tales regarding Comanche landings were untrue, we were concerned by the number of landing gear-related incidents. Top Avionics Upgrades: Choices For All Budgets, Shopping For A Seaplane: Pick A Price Point, Sun n Fun 2023: Superior Custom Instrument Panels. It's a pricey and time-consuming effort that many Belvoir Media Group, LLC. To gain a disproportionately greater benefit in economy. Read a Piper door lock review with photos of a Medeco door lock installation. In 1958, Piper introduced a 250 hp (190 kW) version using a Lycoming O-540 engine, giving the PA-24-250 Comanche a top cruise speed of 160 kn (180 mph; 300 km/h). We know of one flight school that had a Comanche on its flight line and it required renters to perform gear extensions and retractions with the airplane on jack stands. That didnt mean he went cheap. Some years ago, there was some thought given to resurrecting the design at the hands of the legendary and brilliant Roy LoPresti, but like the Swift Fury, it came to nothing. Theres also Knots2U (www.knots2u.net, 262-763-5100) that has, in addition to the wing fillet mod, a dorsal fin kit, speedbrakes and a variety of other mods for Comanches. These webinars total hours of advice from the Piper Owner Society Editorial Board, led by Aviation Director Scott Sherer. My performance improvements are way beyond anything I expected. For instance, its possible to retrofit (via STC) the Lycoming O-540 engine into a Comanche 180 of 1960 or later vintage; theres at least one published report of this being done on an FAA Form 337, although we dont know of any shops offering the mod without doing the full-up STC. Piehl said, he gave me a lot of advice like where to find parts, and I subbed a lot of work to him, such as magnafluxing connecting rods and checking all the gears, and that inspection is required for a complete overhaul. Products (www.aviationperformanceproducts.com), which claims that its Eagle XP cowling increases speed, economy and improves maintenance access. It went up in January when the panel upgrade was completed. Garmin GTN 750 Touchscreen GPS/Nav/Comm. The AD list is pretty long, but most of the items are one-time fixes, followed by future inspection. (parseInt(navigator.appVersion) >= 3 )) || I believe the payoff was at about 400 hours on a 172 with the reduced fuel burn, and not having to maintain a carb. All rights reserved. We kept that in mind as we reviewed the 100 most recent Comanche accidents. Still, the respected International Comanche Society (ICS) reports the best way to learn to land-and fly-this machine is to get some dual from an expert in the type, not the local flight school unless they have a Comanche expert on hand-and some schools even have Comanches. Turboplus was granted multiple Supplemental Type Certificates to upgrade many Continental TSIO-360 and LTSIO-360 engines to the 220HP operating limits of the Continental TSIO-360KB engine. 2-blade 2-blade Scimitar. A turbonormalized version of the Comanche C was offered alongside the normally aspirated model in 1970. In my opinion, there is no reason to own a 180 Comanche unless you are consumed with fuel range and can tolerate the vibration from the engine being so far out from the firewall. It put the Comanches on the map. Ive seen some IAs do the six-cylinder engine conversion and sign it off with a logbook entry. Piehl said Zephyr did a triple-angle valve job in rebuilding this Comanche engine, blueprinting the pistons and cylinders, and stuffed the pistons in the cylinders, ready for him to assemble onto the rods and the crankcase. The Comanches have a speed wing so its not a comfortable ride in moderate or greater turbulence, so slowing it down softens the bumps. by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 9, 2022 | Comanche Restoration Series, Maintenance, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. Comanche Panel Upgrades; Comanche Engine and Mounts: What Happens During an Upgrade; Comanche Reassembly: What a Legacy Piper Looks Like When It's Taken Apart; 1959 Comanche Fully Restored; . In 1972, there were two single-engine Comanche models still in production-the 260 and turbo 260. To hold more fuel needed to feed it, there were optional 130-gallon tanks. Flap / Aileron Gap Seal Kit. This beast had a normally aspirated, fuel-injected, eight-cylinder Lycoming IO-720-A1A fitted with a three-blade prop. Posted by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 9, 2022 | Avionics, Comanche Restoration Series, Upgrade & Refurbish. Initially the airplane was equipped with hand brakes, but after 1960 most Comanches were delivered with optional toe brakes. All of the fuel bladders should be replaced with new ones. Garmin GMA 35c Remote-mount Bluetooth Audio Panel. The list price of the IFD550 is $21,999, but if you have a clean and fully functional Garmin GNS530W, you can cut that cost substantially. The Piper Owner Society would like to thank the following contributors: A sampling of quotes from this first webinar. Product Brochure - click here to download Note: if you have an O-360 powered PA28-140, or an early model PA28-150, -160, or -180 (1964 or earlier PA28 How do you test an engine after a rebuild without mounting it back onto the plane? Thats more than twice the rate we expect to see on retracts-and is cause for concern for a potential buyer. These mods are available for all Comanches except the 400. or Write for our Comanche Catalog LoPresti did create some interesting and worthwhile aerodynamic mods for the airplane, however. Our journey has reached the engine of Greg Piehls Comanche. Accept that youll be a test pilot for a few hours. Garmin GTX 345 ADS-B Transponder. Got an existing GTX330 Mode S unit? Engine Upgrades, What is possible. Insurance runs about $1600 per year. General Tiger with fixed gear goes just as fast and another contemporary retractable, the Mooney M20C or M20E, will outrun the 180. The landing gear on the Comanche gets our attention. Which of the reductions is smaller is too hard to say, but the difference isn't going to be significant. Posted by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 13, 2022 | Comanche Restoration Series, Upgrade & Refurbish This "rebuilding a Piper engine" article is from Greg Piehl, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida, with his wife Debbie, spent three years restoring and upgrading their 1959 Piper Comanche 250. by Rocky Landsverk | Sep 14, 2022 | Comanche Restoration Series, Upgrade & Refurbish | 0. Once the dust settles, typical dual-screen G5 installations generally run around $7000. Wingtip mount with WAAS GPS, LED nav light, LED strobe light. CONTINENTAL,
Mercy St Louis Central Scheduling Phone Number,
Friedrich Thermostat How To Use,
Northridge Country Club Texarkana Membership Cost,
Articles P