Aircraft model
PIPER PA-23
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The Apache, Piper's first twin and the aeroplane that created the light-twin market. It is a four-to-five seat aircraft with two 150 hp Lycomings, a rounded tail and fabric-covered control surfaces, and it was sold to owners stepping up from a single who wanted a second engine.
It is the cheapest twin you can buy and the reason is performance. With 150 hp a side, single-engine climb at gross on a warm day is close to nothing, and the Apache's accident record in engine-failure situations is poor. It demands precise airspeed discipline and a pilot who genuinely understands asymmetric flight, and it is not an aeroplane in which the second engine is much of a safety margin. Against that, running costs are the lowest of any twin: two small four-cylinder Lycomings are cheap to overhaul.
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Put PIPER PA-23 side by side with up to two other models.
- PIPER PA-23
What it is
| Seats | 5 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | 2 |
| Engine | Lycoming O-320-A |
| Horsepower | 150 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | CAR3 |
| Production start | 1954 |
| Production end | 1957 |
| Endorsements required | complex;multi-engine |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 150 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 700 nm |
| Service ceiling | 17,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 1,260 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 58 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
| Landing over 50 ft | 1,600 ft |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 5 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 1,570 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 1,138 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 3,800 lb |
| Empty weight | 2,230 lb |
| Usable fuel | 72 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 16.8 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $40,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $100,000 |
| 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 | 925 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 155 |
| Median year built | 1956.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 10 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 64.521 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 32.262 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 30 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 19.353 |
| Airworthiness directives | 7 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 155 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 155 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 155 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing multi-engine, piston, 2 engines, 5-6 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 3.9 of 101 |
| Severity | 5.8 of 102 |
| Access | 9.1 of 103 |
| Support | 7.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.9 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 30.6 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 22.1 · 57 models in class.
- Severity: class median 25.
- Access: class median 2,924.5.
- Support: class median 57.
- Liquidity: class median 21.42.
- 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.