Piper
Sale price: US $30,000.00 Make an Offer
| Condition: | Used | Model Year: | 1973 |
| Make: | Piper |
Algonquin, Illinois, United States
Vehicle description
Here is my 1973 Piper Challenger.
They stretched the fuselage of the Cherokee 180 to the length we have today in the Archer, but they decided to call it a “Challenger” for one year. It’s basically an Archer. This plane comfortably fits 4 adults while carrying full fuel and still remains inside weight and balance limits! The back seats can be removed (without tools) in about 2 minutes. This adds GREATLY to the airplane’s versatility as it has a cavernous amount of storage without the seats installed. We can easily fit 2 full sized mountain bikes in the plane with the back seats out. We usually flight plan for 110 knots.
The engine was overhauled by Mattituck in 2010. This was a well known shop that did engine overhauls to the highest standards. The airplane has averaged about 60 hours per year since the overhaul (a perfect amount of flying to keep the engine going strong). The compressions at the last annual were 79/77/79/78. You can’t get much better than that! The importance of buying an airplane with a strong engine can’t be stressed enough. You don’t want a plane with a motor that was overhauled at a “no name” shop. Those don’t usually make it to TBO.
I bought this plane about 4 years ago to teach my daughter how to fly. The video of her solo has been viewed about 400,000 times on Youtube. The plane is “internet famous” (just kidding, but you can get a good look at the plane by going to Youtube and searching “Maddie’s first solo flight”). There were 3 cameras rolling and you can see the plane in action from the inside and outside. I have other videos of the plane on my channel that you can check out too.
The paint on the plane was updated and a leather interior was installed. There is a Garmin 430 that works great for GPS approaches. There is an autopilot that holds a heading and can be slaved to the Garmin, but it works off the turn coordinator and is a little wobbly. I think an overhaul of the turn coordinator would fix that, but we have just been using it for VFR training so I haven’t messed with it.
The plane has a Garmin GTX 327 transponder, which will help with the ADSB requirements in the future.
The airplane has no damage history and looks great. There was a previous owner who lost the airplane due to financial difficulties around 2007. He refused to hand over the complete logbooks, so the logbooks had to be “rebuilt” from FAA records and records from the shops that had worked on the plane in the past. The person who bought the plane from the bank installed the new engine, interior, Garmin 430, etc. The airplane has been meticulously maintained for the last 8 years and has been hangar kept.
I recently installed two brand new tires. I had the fuel tanks removed and had the recommended Service Bulletin 1006 done where they inspect for corrosion. There was none present. We treated the area behind the tanks with Dinotrol AV8 while replacing all fuel supply hoses, vent hoses, gaskets and fuel tank drain valves. The battery was replaced with a sealed Gill 7000 series in 2016.
This is a rock solid airplane that is great for flight training, or just taking 4 people on a comfortable trip. We have thoroughly enjoyed owning the plane, but it’s time to go a little faster.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions. You are free to come look at the plane or have a “pre-buy” inspection done before the auction ends. I can help with delivering the plane. You would just have to pay for the gas (Continental U.S. only).
1973 Piper Challenger N56015
Total Time 5417 TSMOH 506 Gross Weight 2450 Aircraft Empty Weight 1522 Useful load 928 Compressions 79/77/79/78 Annual Due 7-1-18
Equipment
Garmin 430 Nav/Com Garmin 396 (Panel Mounted) Garmin GTX 327 Transponder Auto Pilot EGT gauge Dual ILS DME 4 Place Intercom with Integrated CD Player (great for those long flights)
They stretched the fuselage of the Cherokee 180 to the length we have today in the Archer, but they decided to call it a “Challenger” for one year. It’s basically an Archer. This plane comfortably fits 4 adults while carrying full fuel and still remains inside weight and balance limits! The back seats can be removed (without tools) in about 2 minutes. This adds GREATLY to the airplane’s versatility as it has a cavernous amount of storage without the seats installed. We can easily fit 2 full sized mountain bikes in the plane with the back seats out. We usually flight plan for 110 knots.
The engine was overhauled by Mattituck in 2010. This was a well known shop that did engine overhauls to the highest standards. The airplane has averaged about 60 hours per year since the overhaul (a perfect amount of flying to keep the engine going strong). The compressions at the last annual were 79/77/79/78. You can’t get much better than that! The importance of buying an airplane with a strong engine can’t be stressed enough. You don’t want a plane with a motor that was overhauled at a “no name” shop. Those don’t usually make it to TBO.
I bought this plane about 4 years ago to teach my daughter how to fly. The video of her solo has been viewed about 400,000 times on Youtube. The plane is “internet famous” (just kidding, but you can get a good look at the plane by going to Youtube and searching “Maddie’s first solo flight”). There were 3 cameras rolling and you can see the plane in action from the inside and outside. I have other videos of the plane on my channel that you can check out too.
The paint on the plane was updated and a leather interior was installed. There is a Garmin 430 that works great for GPS approaches. There is an autopilot that holds a heading and can be slaved to the Garmin, but it works off the turn coordinator and is a little wobbly. I think an overhaul of the turn coordinator would fix that, but we have just been using it for VFR training so I haven’t messed with it.
The plane has a Garmin GTX 327 transponder, which will help with the ADSB requirements in the future.
The airplane has no damage history and looks great. There was a previous owner who lost the airplane due to financial difficulties around 2007. He refused to hand over the complete logbooks, so the logbooks had to be “rebuilt” from FAA records and records from the shops that had worked on the plane in the past. The person who bought the plane from the bank installed the new engine, interior, Garmin 430, etc. The airplane has been meticulously maintained for the last 8 years and has been hangar kept.
I recently installed two brand new tires. I had the fuel tanks removed and had the recommended Service Bulletin 1006 done where they inspect for corrosion. There was none present. We treated the area behind the tanks with Dinotrol AV8 while replacing all fuel supply hoses, vent hoses, gaskets and fuel tank drain valves. The battery was replaced with a sealed Gill 7000 series in 2016.
This is a rock solid airplane that is great for flight training, or just taking 4 people on a comfortable trip. We have thoroughly enjoyed owning the plane, but it’s time to go a little faster.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions. You are free to come look at the plane or have a “pre-buy” inspection done before the auction ends. I can help with delivering the plane. You would just have to pay for the gas (Continental U.S. only).
1973 Piper Challenger N56015
Total Time 5417 TSMOH 506 Gross Weight 2450 Aircraft Empty Weight 1522 Useful load 928 Compressions 79/77/79/78 Annual Due 7-1-18
Equipment
Garmin 430 Nav/Com Garmin 396 (Panel Mounted) Garmin GTX 327 Transponder Auto Pilot EGT gauge Dual ILS DME 4 Place Intercom with Integrated CD Player (great for those long flights)