Aircraft model
PIPER PA-22-150
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Tri-Pacer, a fabric-covered, steel-tube, four-seat high-wing aeroplane on a tricycle undercarriage, built through the 1950s. Piper took the tailwheel Pacer, bolted a nosewheel on it and sold enormous numbers to people who wanted four seats for less than a Cessna 172 cost. It is short-coupled, tall and slightly odd-looking, and it cruises at a genuinely useful 113 knots on 150 hp.
It is one of the cheapest four-seat aeroplanes you can buy, and the reason is fabric. The airframe is steel tube covered in fabric, and a recover job costs more than many Tri-Pacers are worth — so the single most important question about any example is how old the covering is and what it is made of. Check that before anything else. The aeroplane itself is pleasant but quirky: it has interconnected ailerons and rudder on many examples, a high centre of gravity that makes it feel tippy on the ground, and a short wing that means it comes down steeply with power off. Many have been converted back to tailwheel configuration as 'Pacer' conversions, which changes the endorsement requirement and usually the price.
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Put PIPER PA-22-150 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-22-150
What it is
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-320-A2B |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1954 |
| Production end | 1960 |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 113 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 480 nm |
| Service ceiling | 16,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 800 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 43 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,280 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 4 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 890 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 674 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 2,000 lb |
| Empty weight | 1,110 lb |
| Usable fuel | 36 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 8.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $38,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $90,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 2,000 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $28,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $40,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 3,284 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 1,198 |
| Median year built | 1956.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 71 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 7 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 59.271 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 45.912 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 216 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 18.033 |
| Airworthiness directives | 2 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 1,198 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 1,198 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 1,198 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 3-4 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 2.8 of 101 |
| Severity | 5.8 of 102 |
| Access | 6.6 of 103 |
| Support | 9.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 27.4 out of 506 |
These record scores treat PIPER PA-22-150 as one design with the same aircraft registered under other names: it includes 1 aircraft registered under PIPER/PIERCE TONY. Prices are not combined.
- 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.