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Cherokee is the common name for the Piper's PA-28 family of aircraft models, which received its type certificate from the FAA in 1960 and is still under production by The New Piper Aircraft Company today.

The Cherokee is an all-metal, unpressurized, four-seat, single-engine, piston-powered plane with low wings and tricycle landing gear; its main competitors have been the Cessna 172 and the Beechcraft Musketeer. All Cherokees have a single door on the co-pilot side, which you enter by walking on the wing. The low-end Cherokees are popular trainers.

Piper has created many variations on the Cherokee by installing engines ranging from 140 to 235 horsepower (105 to 175 kW), fixed or retractable landing gear, fixed-pitch or constant-speed propellers, and even turbocharging. Earlier Cherokees had rectangular wings popularly referred to as "Hershey Bar wings"; later Cherokees (from the late 1970s on) have wings with a tapered outboard section.

History

The original Cherokees were the Cherokee 150 and Cherokee 160 (PA-28-150 and PA-28-160), which started production in 1961 (unless otherwise mentioned, the model number always refers to horsepower). In 1962, Piper added the Cherokee 180 (PA-28-180): the extra horsepower made it practical to fly with all four seats filled, and the Cherokee 180 remains popular on the used-airplane market. Piper continued to expand the line rapidly: in 1963, the company introduced the even more powerful Cherokee 235 (PA-28-235), which competed favourably with the Cessna 182 for load-carrying capability; in 1964, the company filled in the bottom end of the line with the Cherokee 140 (PA-28-140), which was designed for training and typically shipped with only two seats at first. In 1967, Piper released the Cherokee Arrow (PA-28R-180), with a 180 horsepower engine (increased to 200 horsepower in 1969, changing the designation to PA-28R-200), a constant-speed propeller, and retractable landing gear; at the same time, Piper removed the Cherokee 150 and Cherokee 160 from production. Until the introduction of the Warrior in 1974, all Cherokees had a rectangular wing popularly called the Hershey Bar wingl

In 1971, Piper released a Cherokee 140 variant called the Cherokee Cruiser 2+2; although the plane kept the 140 designation, it was, in fact, a 150 horsepower plane, and shipped mainly as a four-seat version. In 1973, the Cherokee 180 was named the Cherokee Challenger, and had its fuselage lengthened slightly and its wings widened, and the Cherokee 235 was named the Charger with similar airframe modifications. In 1974, Piper fiddled with the names again, renaming the Cruiser 2+2 (140) to simply Cruiser, the Challenger to Archer (PA-28-181), and the Charger (235) to Pathfinder. Piper also reintroduced the Cherokee 150 that year, renaming it the Cherokee Warrior (PA-28-151) and giving it the Archer's stretched body and a new, semitapered wing to replace the Hershey Bar wing.

In 1977, Piper stopped producing the Cruise (140) and Pathfinder (235), but introduced a new 235 horsepower plane, the Dakota (PA-28-236), with the new semi-tapered wing. A 200 horsepower Turbo Dakota (PA-28-201T) briefly followed but did not sell well and soon stopped production. In 1978, Piper upgraded the Warrior to 160 horsepower (PA-28-161), changing its name to Warrior II.

The original Piper Aircraft company declared bankruptcy in 1991. In 1995, The New Piper Aircraft company was set up. It currently (2005) produces three PA-28 Cherokee variants: the 160 horsepower Warrior III (PA-28-161), the 180 horsepower Archer III (PA-28-181), and the 200 horsepower retractable Arrow (PA-28R-200), which also comes in a turbocharged version (PA-28R-200T). All are now available with glass cockpits, like most new general aviation aircraft.

External Links:

• Aircraft-Info.net - Piper PA-28 Cherokee Series (http://www.aircraft-info.net/aircraft/propellor_aircraft/piper/PA-28/)
• New Piper Aircraft Home Page (http://www.newpiper.com/)]

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