The Piper PA-32 Cherokee Six was designed and built by Piper Aircraft as a family of single-engined fixed undercarriage, light aircraft introduced in 1965. The PA-32 performed its maiden flight on December 6, 1963, and was produced from 1965 to 2007. It was used as private transport, air taxi, bush support, and medevac all over the world.
On December 6, 1963, the PA-32 took to the skies for the first time. In 1965, the PA-32 started as a further derivative of the PA-28 Cherokee light aircraft. It was initially fitted with a 260-horsepower engine designated as PA32-260 Cherokee Six that could accommodate six to seven persons on board. The aircraft was designed with a luggage compartment located in the nose in the middle of the cockpit and engine compartment and also featured an enlarged double door at the rear for easier loading and unloading of cargo and boarding and deboarding of passengers. The Cherokee was produced from 1965 to 2007; a total of over 7,842 aircraft were built.
On May 27, 1966, the PA-32-300 was certified by the Federal Aviation Administration. It has an external length of 8.4 meters, an external height of 1.45 meters, and a fuselage diameter of 1.35 meters. The cabin has a length of 3.02 meters, a height of 1.23 meters, and a width of 1.24 meters. The aircraft has a wingspan of 10 meters and a wing area of 16.5 square meters. It has a tail height of 2.4 meters and a fixed landing gear with a wheelbase of 2.39 meters. The empty weight is 811 kg, the gross weight is 1,542 kg, and the maximum payload is 680 kg. It has a fuel tank capacity of 84 US gal.
The aircraft is powered by a single Lycoming IO-540-K1A5 engine. It is a six-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally-opposed piston engine with two overhead valves per cylinder, a fuel injection system, and an air cooling system. The power output is 300 horsepower. The PA-32-300 has a maximum speed of 151 knots and a cruise speed of 146 knots. The travel range is 730 nautical miles. The aircraft can fly up to 16,250 feet and can climb at a rate of 1,050 feet per minute. The takeoff distance is 348 meters while the landing distance is 305 meters.
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