| PA-40 Arapaho | |
|---|---|
| Role | Twin-engined cabin monoplane |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Piper |
| First flight | 16 January 1973 |
| Status | Cancelled |
| Number built | 3 |
The Piper PA-40 Arapaho was an American twin-engined cabin monoplane designed by Piper as a replacement for the PA-39 Twin Comanche C/R.[1]
Like most Piper products at this time, the PA-40 was named for a North American native tribe, in this case the Arapaho.
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The Arapaho was similar in size to the Twin Comanche and had six seats but had a taller main landing gear and larger cabin windows.[1] It had two counter-rotating 160 hp Lycoming IO-320 engines.[1]
The prototype was damaged in June 1972 when the factory at Lock Haven flooded and the prototype, registered N9999P, did not fly until 16 January 1973.[1] It crashed on 21 September 1973 during spin trials.[1] and the aircraft was re-designed to give more vertical surfaces. The second modified prototype with normally aspirated engined first flew in April 1974 and was followed by a third aircraft with turbocharged engines.[1]
The PA-40 was type certified on 18 July 1974, as an amendment to the Twin Comanche type certificate. The Arapaho was scheduled to be launched as a 1975 model, but the company decided not to market the aircraft and the project was cancelled in December 1974.[1][2] Piper stated that the cancellation was for financial reasons as it did not want to establish a new production line during an economic recession.[3]
Following cancellation the two aircraft were used by Piper as company liaison and communication aircraft, one based at Lock Haven the other at Lakeland.[4] Later one aircraft was scrapped by Piper and the third, registered N9997P, is now used by Aviation Technology students at Purdue University in the airframe laboratory at the Purdue University Airport.[5]
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