"Ron Natalie" wrote in message om...
"DaveSproul" wrote in message ...
Actually, the early Cherokee 140s were certified for spins.

Wow. I never knew that. What changed later? The airframes were identical for
many years, right?

All the 140's were approved in the utility category up to 1950 lb gross weight.
The 150 and the 160 were only certificated in the normal category (making
them not spinable). Might have been that the empty weights crept up so
high as to make the CG envelope of the utility category fairly unusable.
I know that my Navion has a utility envelope that's only places gross only
a couple of hundred pounds over the empty weight...I could only get in it with
minimal fuel and no passengers/baggage.

I've flown and spun 150/160s that were approved for spins in the
Utility Category. Not all were. It depended on the equipment
installed. Most that were not approved had A/C and the big fresh air
fan in the tail. My '68 180D is approved for spins in the utility
category (and spins great).

The big change came in '73 when most models got a 5" stretch to the
fuselage, and longer wings and stabilator (and the resulting CG
change). The 140, which was not stretched, retained spin approval in
the Utility Category until they quit building them in '77.

The Cherokee is very sensitive to CG position. When I spin mine, I
can tell whether the CG is in the front or rear of the Utility
envelope. The spin is noticably flatter (but still quite recoverable)
when close to the back of the Utility range.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)