A Piper Cherokee 140... good first plane?

wrote:
I'm usually not one to flame, but a few of these beg explanation.

: Some random observations:

: The up-front cost of a higher powered Cherokee is higher.

You mean 160hp 172 vs 160hp PA28? I find that hard to believe. I haven't
looked at prices for awhile so I suppose I could be mistaken, but I recall comparable
172s (same engine HP) were about $5-10K more than comparable PA28's.

No, sorry, I wasn't clear. I intended all comparisons to be relative to a
Cherokee 140. I understood the OP to be asking about Cherokee 140s vs higher
powered, more capable aircraft. I meant to speak only of comparisons within the
Piper family and didn't address differences with Cessnas.


: The fuel cost for a higher powered Cherokee is higher.

How is that? Same engine, same fuel, and perhaps slight speed advantage over
a 172... or are you comparing to a 15[02]? My post in the other thread went over the
speed vs. fuel thing. A 150hp cherokee at 55% cruise is the same speed and almost
identical fuel burn to a cessna 150 at 75%.

See above.


: The maintenance cost for a higher powered Cherokee is almost the same.

Pretty much. Unless you've got a strange bird, fixed gear with a normal
engine will be all pretty much the same.

: Many people (maybe not you) underestimate their mission. Mission creep sets in
: after you make the decision.

Agreed. I know I'm glad I got a PA28. We were looking hard at a Cessna 150
for it's cheap cost and mogas. Having a smallish range and load capacity ends up
being a lot more confining than you might think.

: The biggest cost is maintenance.

: The difference in maintenance cost is swamped by the variability in maintenance
: cost. That is, the maintenance cost is hard to predict for any given individual
: aircraft, and the slightly higher maintenance cost of the higher-powered models
: is a smaller difference than the seemingly random differences from airplane to
: airplane.

Quite true... don't get a lemon....

: You get to decide whether the additional capability is worth the extra up-front
: cost and fuel cost. You can ignore the difference in maintenance cost (which is
: your largest expense).

Fuel cost does not *have* to be much higher. Don't drive it like you stole
it, and fuel burn goes down quite a bit.

Quite so. I have a hard time remembering that when my hand is on the throttle. :-)


: Let the flames begin.

Agreed...