I've got the earliest year of the official 'Archers' (1974)and have a 920 lb
useful load or about 600 lbs with full fuel. I normally 'fill to the tabs'
to get 700 lbs with about 3.5 hrs with a reserve.

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Best Regards,
Mike

http://photoshow.comcast.net/mikenoel


"JGalban via AviationKB.com" u32749@uwe wrote in message
news:7d9fdfd070af3@uwe...
Marco Leon wrote:
Just read the article on the new sweepstakes plane. What stood out was the
700 lbs.+ full-fuel payload on the early Archers. Is that right?? Is
anyone
seeing that kind of payload? It's hard to believe it has the same if not
better load-carrying capability than some Sixes/Saratogas.


That would sound right for the early Cherokee 180s (mine in 715 lbs with
50
gallons onboard), but isn't typical for the Archers. The Archers gained
weight with the longer wing, extended fuselage and much larger stabilator.
Piper tried to offset that somewhat by bumping the gross weight an extra
50
lbs. but the typical useful loads were still around 600 lbs with full
fuel.

That is still much better than the later model Archer III which really
suffered from weight creep. I flew a new one a couple of years ago and
was
surpised to find that it's useful load (with a modest panel) was over 200
lbs.
less than my short bodied Cherokee 180.

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

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