Aircraft model
PIPER PA-20S
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The PA-20S is the float model of the PA-20 -- a separate certificated model on the type certificate with its own maximum weight and, on the Pacer, one fewer seat than the landplane. It is not a modification: the certificate lists it as a model of its own, with its own approved float installations and its own limitations.
Ownership is steel tube and fabric ownership. The recover is the periodic bill that dwarfs everything else, corrosion in the tubing under the fabric is what ends these airframes, and the lift strut inspection requirement is a real one. Against that, the engines are among the cheapest four-cylinder Lycomings to overhaul and the parts trade for the type is unusually good, because Univair and others still make almost everything.
Compare with…
Put PIPER PA-20S side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-20S
What it is
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-290-D |
| Horsepower | 125 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1950 |
| Production end | 1960 |
| Endorsements required | tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 95 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 432 nm |
| Service ceiling | 13,800 ft |
| Climb rate | 527 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 43 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 3 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 618 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 402 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,738 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,120 lb |
| Usable fuel | 36 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 7 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $40,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $100,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 1,800 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $26,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $36,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 8 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 1 |
| Median year built | — |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | — |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | — |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 0 |
| Transfers per 100 active | — |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | none |
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 5.8 of 103 |
| Support | 0.4 of 104 |
| Liquidity | —5 |
- Accident record: class median 32.28 · 202 models in class.
- Severity: class median 12.5.
- Access: class median 775.
- Support: class median 147.5.
- Liquidity: class median 19.9.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.